Bioremediation of the synthetic musk compounds Galaxolide and Tonalide by white rot fungal strain-assisted phytoremediation in biosolid-amended soil

The study was aimed to conduct the bioremediation of synthetic musks by four species of white rot fungi combined with phytoremediation (Zea mays) in biosolid-amended soils where only Galaxolide (HHCB) and Tonalide (AHTN) were found as other musks were below the detection limit (0.5-2 mu g/kg dw). The HHCB and AHTN concentration in natural attenuation treated soil was decreased by not more than 9%. In solely mycoremediation, Pleurotus ostreatus was found to be the most efficient fungal strain, with the higher (P < 0.05) HHCB and AHTN removal (51.3% and 46.4%). Phytoremediation-only of biosolid-amended soil was also able to remove HHCB and AHTN from soil significantly (P < 0.05) in comparison to the control treatment without plants which resulted in the final concentration for both compounds of 56.2 and 15.3 mu g/kg dw, respectively. Using white rot fungus-assisted phytoremediation, only P. ostreatus decreased the HHCB content in soil significantly (P < 0.05) by 44.7%, when compared to the initial concentration. While using Phanerochaete chrysosporium, the AHTN concentration was decreased by 34.5%, which was a significantly lower concentration at the end of experiment compared to the initial value. Via fungus-assisted phytoremediation, the enzymatic activity and fungal biomass were increased, probably due to the presence of roots in association with the soil microbiome, in the process increasing the degradation of fragrances accordingly. This could lead to a higher (P < 0.05) AHTN removal in

Automated summary

The study aimed to bioremediate synthetic musks by combining four species of white rot fungi with phytoremediation using Zea mays in biosolid-amended soils. Only Galaxolide (HHCB) and Tonalide (AHTN) were detected, with concentrations not exceeding 9% in natural attenuation treated soil. Pleurotus ostreatus was the most efficient fungal strain for mycoremediation, removing 51.3% of HHCB and 46.4% of AHTN. Phytoremediation-only with biosolid-amended soil significantly reduced HHCB and AHTN concentrations compared to the control treatment without plants, with final concentrations of 56.2 and 15.3 μg/kg dw, respectively.