One of the main environmental problems today is the pollution of the environment caused by toxic chemicals, which pose a serious risk for the ecosystem and the people involved. This is evident from the latest environmental accidents in Slovenia. Certain species of fungi, mainly white rot fungi, are able to degrade many pollutants present in the environment, due to the non-specifity of their extracellular enzymes (laccases, lignin peroxidases, manganese peroxidases), thus making them an attractive alternative for cleaning the environment. Cleaning or returning the environment to its original state with the use of fungi or its enzymes is called mycoremediation. Similarity between the chemical structure of lignin and the structures of many pollutants enables fungi to degrade a wide range of pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polyethylene, oil, insecticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and others. Fungal enzymes can be used in a bioreactor, in addition to approaches of bioaugumentation or biostimulation.
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