Bioremediation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Contaminated Soil Through Fungal Communities

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are recalcitrant compounds resulting from both natural and anthropogenic processes, distributed in all environments worldwide. In soils, PAHs can remain for decades, absorbed into the soil particles and organic matter and, thus, inaccessible to microbial degradation. Microbial fungi are well suited for terrestrial habitats and can reach xenobiotic compounds in soil due to their multicellular mycelium. In general, fungi contribute to the overall microbial population in soils, allowing the transport and interaction with other communities. However, these communities have proven difficult to observe in conventional biotic studies. As such, the behavior of fungal communities in PAH-polluted soils remains poorly studied. Deeper knowledge could help to identify key drivers of bioremediation under different conditions for further application in real-world scenarios, including conditions obtained using cell culture techniques. This review serves to present an overview of the role of fungi in aromatic hydrocarbon degradation and the importance of the study of fungal functional diversity to understand the process of xenobiotic removal.