Tolerance and mycoremediation of silver ions by Fusarium solani

Silver ions discharged from various industries, are potentially toxic to living organisms at low concentrations, thus, there is an increasing need for development of an eco-friendly and cost-effective approach for its bioremediation. Filamentous fungi especially, Fusarium solani displayed a strong resistance to copper and cadmium ions as revealed from our previous study (El-Sayed 2014), however, the mechanisms of silver resistance by this fungus has not been resolved yet. Thus, this study was an extension to our previous work, to elucidate the mechanism of silver ions resistance and biotransformation by F. solani. The growth, bioaccumulation, thiol, total antioxidant, malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) contents and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and catalase (CAT) activities of F. solani in response to silver ions were determined. Production and bioaccumulation of silver nanoparticles was characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, TEM, and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The ultrastructural changes of F. solani induced by Ag(I) was examined by TEM and SEM. Production of oxalic acid by F. solani was increased by about 343.8% in response to 400 mg/l Ag(I), compared to control cultures (without silver ions) as revealed from HPLC analysis. The maximum biosorption levels by the native and alkali-treated biomass were carried out at pH 5.0, initial metal concentration 200 mg/l, biomass 0.5 g/l, temperature 35 °C, and contact time 1 h (native biomass) and 3 h (alkali-treated biomass). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results revealed that the main functional groups involved on this mycoremediation were C-S stretching, C=O C=N, C - H bending, C-N stretching and N-H bending. EDX spectra indicated the involvement of fungal cellular sulfur and phosphorus compounds in Ag(I) binding.