Formaldehyde as a proof and response to various kind of stress in some Basidiomycetes

The influence of cadmium chloride and/or high temperature on the level of selected parameters were examined in both medium and mycelium of some Basidiomycetes belonging to white-rot fungi: Abortiporus biennis, Trametes versicolor and Cerrena unicolor. We investigated changes in the formaldehyde (FA) level and in the level of superoxide radical anions (SR). Accordingly, the capacity of three enzymes was also studied: two enzymes of the cellular antioxidative system - superoxide dismutase (SOD; EC 1.15.1.1), and catalase (CAT; EC 1.11.1.6), and laccase (LAC; EC 1.10.3.2) the main lignin-modifying enzyme, which is produced by white-rot fungi. During the first 24 hours after application of separate stressors, or jointly with two stressors to 10-day-old cultivation, changes in all selected parameters were observed. Moreover, we found significant changes in the levels of extracellular SR, FA and extra- and intracellular activity of LAC. Simultaneous action of two stressors in the fungal cultures decreased the extracellular LAC level, intracellular CAT activity and the level of SR in the medium compared to the control values, while using the two stress factors separately would strongly make these values increase. Stressful conditions brought a rapid increase in the level of FA in all fungal species. The results of our study, carried out on selected strains of Basidiomycetes, seem to have shown that: (I) LAC, the lignin-modifying enzyme, may have an important application in fungal stress response, and take part in the cross-protection between responses to heat shock and cadmium resistance; (2) the oxidative burst as a result of cadmium and high temperature treatment is an additional factor to damage fungal cells; (3) FA may be a determining factor in the phases of fungal stress syndrome.