UPTAKE OF CADMIUM IONS IN WHITE-ROT FUNGUS TRAMETES VERSICOLOR: EFFECT OF CD (II) IONS ON THE ACTIVITY OF LACCASE

Abstract

The effects of cadmium Cd (II) ions on the physiology and biological activity of Trametes versicolor, a strain belonging to white‐rotting Basidiomycetes, were examined. Cd (II) ions were added to 10‐day‐old cultures grown on a liquid medium, or at the time of inoculation. Our experiments showed that T. versicolor is a good cadmium biosorbent from aqueous solution, this strain removing almost all the Cd (ll) ions over the first 2h of incubation by what appears to be a rapid, energy‐independent surface binding phenomenon, at the rate of ∼2mg Cd per g mycelial dry weight. An additional slower and energy‐dependent transport mechanism was also present, taking in ∼0.3mg Cd (II) perg dry weight. It is also shown that these Cd (II) ions significantly stimulate the activity of extracellular laccase when added to 10‐day‐old cultures.