Mycorevolution: In the 160-page year-end "Big Ideas" issue of Adbusters, I wrote about the--ahem--mushrooming potential
of fungi to do everything from clean up oil spills to cure fatal diseases. My unedited version:
"Some people think I'm a mycological heretic, some people think I'm a mycological revolutionary, and some just
think I'm crazy," says Paul Stamets of Shelton, Washington. The revolutionary heresy he practices is one based on
mycotechnolgy—using mushrooms to do everything from fighting disease to cleaning up toxic waste, from regenerating
damaged logging roads to combating feisty termites and carpenter ants. Author of several books on the medicinal,
culinary, and environmental use of mushrooms and the recipient of the Collective Heritage Institute's 1998 Bioneers
Award, Stamets uses his business, Fungi Perfecti, to explore how to tap into the power of the vast web of mycelial
networks in our soil—a kind of "matrix" of fungal filaments that can grow as big as 20,000 acres. Among the oldest and
largest biological entities on the planet, these webs of fungal cells (mycelia) make up "the essential wiring of the
Gaian consciousness," says Stamets. They have an "inherent intelligence," an ability to "respond to natural disasters
and sudden changes in the environment." In short, mycelia produce acids and enzymes that aid in decomposition by
dismantling chains of hydrogen and carbon—these hydrocarbons are at the root of most petroleum products, pollutants, and
pesticides. Several years ago, Stamets' had the opportunity to show off his shrooms. In an experiment with the
Washington State Department of Transportation, he competed in a contest of sorts: he treated ten cubic yards of
diesel-contaminated soil with spores from oyster mushrooms, while other researchers using chemical and biological agents
treated their own plots of earth. The other technologies had little success after four weeks, but Stamets fungi were
amazing: enormous mushrooms, some a foot in diameter, had covered the soil. When tested, the mushrooms had no traces of
petroleum, and 95 percent of the hydrocarbons had been broken down. After 12 weeks the soil was deemed safe enough for
the DOT to use for highway landscaping. Continuing research is showing that certain species of fungus can break down
sarin and VX nerve gases, that fungal mats can filter out and digest E.coli, and that mushrooms may have a role to play
in fighting HIV, to name just a few of Stamets' successes. The potential for this area of study is staggering: each of
Stamets' discoveries have come from the study and cataloguing of some 50,000 species of mushrooms—a mere fraction of the
estimated 6 million varieties on earth.
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Additional, different information from a Google search for " mycoremediation of
petroleum-polluted sites"
Mycoremediation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mycoremediation is a form of bioremediation, the process of using mushrooms to return an environment (usually soil)
contaminated by pollutants to a less ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycoremediation - 19k - Cached - Similar pages - Note
this
Fungi Perfecti®: Mushrooms and the ecosystem
Fungi Perfecti supports mycoremediation, the use of gourmet and medicinal mushrooms to help preserve and protect the
environment.
www.fungi.com/mycotech/mycova.html - 75k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Word Spy - mycoremediation
mycoremediation (my.koh.ruh.mee.dee.AY.shun) n. The cleansing of a natural habitat by using fungi to break down harmful
bacteria, toxic waste, ...
www.wordspy.com/words/mycoremediation.asp - 23k - Cached - Similar pages -
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Mycoremediation Technologies
The technique is called mycoremediation, which uses mycelium, the vegetative part of a fungus, to break down
contaminants. ...
www.battelle.org/Environment/publications/EnvUpdates/Fall00/article4.html -
6k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Amazon.com: Mycoremediation: Fungal Bioremediation: Books ...
Amazon.com: Mycoremediation: Fungal Bioremediation: Books: Harbhajan Singh by
Harbhajan Singh.
www.amazon.com/Mycoremediation-Fungal-Bioremediation-Harbhajan-Singh/dp/047175501X - 178k - Cached - Similar pages -
Note this
Scientists Finding Fungi a Valuable Ally in Habitat Restoration by ...
Environmentalists call mycoremediation an elegant dance with the natural world that is ... In mycoremediation,
scientists train various fungal strains, ...
www.rawfoodinfo.com/articles/art_fungiallytohabitat.html - 15k - Cached -
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mycoremediation
The mycoremediation process begins with field collection of higher fungi from an area of interest. The process includes
the selection, culturing, ...
rydberg.biology.colostate.edu/Phytoremediation/2001/RichC_web/lastchance.htm
- 22k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
New Chapter - How mushrooms will save the world
Diesel oil had contaminated the site, which the mycoremediation team ... Stamets recently collaborated with WSDOT on
another mycoremediation project ...
www.new-chapter.com/media/article/stamets_saloncom.html - 24k - Cached -
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Ming the Mechanic: Mycoremediation
Diesel oil had contaminated the site, which the mycoremediation team inoculated with strains of oyster mycelia that
Stamets had collected from old-growth ...
ming.tv/flemming2.php/__show_article/_a000010-000607.htm - 11k - Cached -
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Eyeteeth: A journal of incisive ideas.
12.01.2004. Mycorevolution: In the 160-page year-end "Big Ideas" issue of Adbusters, I wrote about
the--ahem--mushrooming potential of fungi to do ...
eyeteeth.blogspot.com/2004/12/mycorevolution-in-160-page-year-end.html - 68k
- Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Frontmatter (p i-xxi)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 179K)
Chapter 1:
Introduction (p 1-28)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 323K)
Chapter 2:
Fungal Treatment of Industrial Wastewaters (p 29-75)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 489K)
Chapter 3:
Fungal Treatment of Distillery and Brewery Wastes (p 76-114)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 384K)
Chapter 4:
Fungal Metabolism of Petroleum Hydrocarbons (p 115-148)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 359K)
Chapter 5:
Fungal Degradation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Dioxins (p 149-180)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 348K)
Chapter 6:
Fungal Degradation of Pesticides (p 181-214)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 365K)
Chapter 7:
Fungal Metabolism of Phenols, Chlorophenols, and Pentachlorophenol (p 215-282)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 693K)
Chapter 8:
Fungal Metabolism of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (p 283-356)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 738K)
Chapter 9:
Fungal Lignin Degradation and Decolorization of Pulp and Paper Mill Effluents
(p 357-419)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 671K)
Chapter 10:
Fungal Decolorization and Degradation of Dyes (p 420-483)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 565K)
Chapter 11:
Fungal Biosorption of Heavy Metals (p 484-532)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 493K)
Chapter 12:
Mycorrhizal Fungi in Rhizosphere Remediation (p 533-572)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 439K)
Index (p 573-592)
Harbhajan Singh
Summary | Full Text: PDF (Size: 274K)
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Summary | Full Text: PDF (439k) | Related Chapters
Mycorrhizal Fungi in Rhizosphere Remediation
Chapter Author: Harbhajan Singh
Summary
This chapter contains sections titled:
* Introduction
* Classification of Mycorrhizal Fungi
* Functions of Mycorrhizal Mycelium
* Methods for Studying Mycorrhizal Fungi
* Molecular Mechanisms of Mycorrhizal Symbiosis
* Metabolism of Mycorrhizal Fungi
* Uptake of Toxic Metals
* Petroleum Hydrocarbon Degradation
* Lignin and Phenolic Degradation
* PAH and TNT Degradation
* PCB Degradation
* Herbicide Degradation
* Comparison of Mycorrhizal and White-Rot Fungi
* Conclusions and Future Perspectives
* References
KEYWORDS
mycorrhizal fungi in rhizosphere remediation; lignin and phenolic degradation; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
and TNT degradation
DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)
10.1002/0470050594.ch12 About DOI
AUTHOR DETAILS
Harbhajan Singh
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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