Fungi: a promising tool for bioremediation of toxic heavy metals

The presence of global pollutants like heavy metals are major contributors to the damage caused to the health of all the organisms living in the four spheres, directly or indirectly related to the food chain. The remediation of heavy metals is the concern and need of today. Heavy metal remediation by using the standard methods is not eco-friendly as it leads to emissions of another set of pollutants and in addition they are not cost-effective. This leads to the increased demand for bioremediation, a process by which a microbe employs its metabolic machinery to remediate the pollutant by protecting itself from the toxicity and reducing the heavy metal into less toxic forms. Among the many microorganisms, various fungal species show great potential for bioremediation because of their ability to decontaminate the environment. The mechanisms involved in the process of bioremediation include biosorption, biotransformation, bioaccumulation, and biomineralization, depending upon the organism involved. This chapter discusses the various sources and effects of heavy metal pollution and describes the mechanisms involved in metal–fungi interactions with respect to the different species of fungi used.