Lipid metabolism and benzo[a]pyrene degradation by Fusarium solani: an unexplored potential

In a search for indigenous soil saprotrophic fungi for bioremediation purposes, Fusarium solani, a saprotrophic fungus belonging to the phylum Ascomycota, was isolated from a fossil carbon contaminated soil. The effect of the carbon source, glucose or olive oil, was investigated in vitro on the biomass produced by F. solani and on the degradation of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in mineral medium. After only 12 days of incubation, BaP degradation by F. solani was higher (37.4%) with olive oil used as the carbon source than the one obtained with glucose (4.2%). Catalase activity increased in the presence of olive oil (3.4 mu kat mg(-1) protein) in comparison with glucose (2.1 mu kat mg(-1) protein). When olive oil was used as the carbon source, BaP degradation increased up to 76.0% in the presence of a specific catalase inhibitor, 3-Amino-1,2,4-triazole (2 mM). This metabolic engineering strategy based both on the use of olive oil as carbon source (cultivation strategy) and on the blocking of the catalase activity could be an innovative and promising approach for fungal biodegradation of BaP and consequently for bioremediation of soil contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.