ROLE OF METALS IN WOOD BIODEGRADATION

Abstract

Wood degrading fungi produce several metal-containing enzymes that participate in wood biodegradation. In addition, they produce iron-reducing compounds that take part in the process as well. Ferric ions present in woods and soils are essential for living organisms that, in general, produce high affinity iron-chelating compounds to scavenge the metal necessary for their metabolism. The importance of low molecular mass compounds produced by fungi in wood biodegradation has been progressively confirmed. Increasing evidence has been reported that both brown- and white-rot fungi use the Fenton reaction to decay wood. In this chapter, the role of metals in wood biodegradation and the results of using fungal iron-reducing mimetic compounds are presented. Furthermore, the application of a bio-inspired fungal degradation system as an alternative to current methods of waste-stream effluent treatment is discussed.