Fungi are an understudied, biotechnologically valuable group of organisms. Due to 
the immense range of habitats that fungi inhabit, and the consequent need to compete against a diverse array of other fungi, bacteria, and animals, fungi have developed numerous survival mechanisms. The unique attributes of fungi thus herald great promise for their application in biotechnology and industry. Moreover, fungi can be grown with relative ease, making production at scale viable. The search for fungal biodiversity, and the construction of a living fungi collection, both have incredible economic potential in locating organisms with novel industrial uses that will lead to novel products. This manuscript reviews fifty ways in which fungi can potentially be utilized as biotechnology. We provide notes and examples for each potential exploitation and give examples from our own work and the work of other notable researchers. We also provide a flow chart that can be used to convince funding bodies of the importance of fungi for biotechnological research and as potential products. Fungi have provided the world with penicillin, lovastatin, and other globally significant medicines, and they remain an untapped resource with enormous industrial potential.

The amazing potential of fungi: 50 ways we can exploit fungi industrially

Bioremediation refers to cost-effective and environment-friendly method for converting the toxic, recalcitrant pollutants into environmentally benign products through the action of various biological treatments. Fungi play a major role in bioremediation owing to their robust morphology and diverse metabolic capacity. The review focuses on different fungal groups from a variety of habitats with their role in bioremediation of different toxic and recalcitrant compounds; persistent organic pollutants, textile dyes, effluents from textile, bleached kraft pulp, leather tanning industries, petroleum, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and pesticides. Bioremediation of toxic organics by fungi is the most sustainable and green route for cleanup of contaminated sites and we discuss the multiple modes employed by fungi for detoxification of different toxic and recalcitrant compounds including prominent fungal enzymes viz., catalases, laccases, peroxidases and cyrochrome P450 monooxygeneses. We have also discussed the recent advances in enzyme engineering and genomics and research being carried out to trace the less understood bioremediation pathways.

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Diverse Metabolic Capacities of Fungi for Bioremediation.

Laccases are a family of copper-containing oxidases with important applications in bioremediation and other various industrial and biotechnological areas. There have been over two dozen reviews on laccases since 2010 covering various aspects of this group of versatile enzymes, from their occurrence, biochemical properties and expression to immobilization and applications. This review is not intended to be all-encompassing; instead, we highlighted some of the latest developments in basic and applied laccase research with an emphasis on laccase-mediated bioremediation of pharmaceuticals, especially antibiotics. Pharmaceuticals are a broad class of emerging organic contaminants that are recalcitrant and prevalent. The recent surge in the relevant literature justifies a short review on the topic. Since low laccase yields in natural and genetically modified hosts constitute a bottleneck to industrial-scale applications, we also accentuated a genus of laccase-producing white-rot fungi, Cerrena, and included a discussion with regards to regulation of laccase expression.

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Laccases: Production, expression regulation, and applications in pharmaceutical biodegradation

Challenges and prospects for the anaerobic treatment of chemical-industrial organic wastewater: A review

Characterization of a manganese peroxidase from white-rot fungus Trametes sp.48424 with strong ability of degrading different types of dyes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Efficient decolorization and detoxification of the sulfonated azo dye Reactive Orange 16 and simulated textile wastewater containing Reactive Orange 16 by the white-rot fungus Ganoderma sp. En3 isolated from the forest of Tzu-chin Mountain in China

Laccase is useful for various biotechnological and industrial applications. The white-rot fungus Trametes velutina 5930 and its laccase, isolated from the Shennongjia Nature Reserve in China by our laboratory, has great potential for practical application in environmental biotechnology. However, the original level of laccase produced by Trametes velutina 5930 was relatively low in the absence of any inducer. Therefore, in order to enhance the laccase production by Trametes velutina 5930 and make better use of this fungus in the field of environmental biotechnology, the regulation of laccase production and laccase gene expression in Trametes velutina 5930 were investigated in this study. Different metal ions such as Cu2+ and Fe2+ could stimulate the laccase synthesis and laccase gene transcription in Trametes velutina 5930. Some aromatic compounds structurally related to lignin, such as tannic acid, syringic acid, cinnamic acid, gallic acid and guaiacol, could also enhance the level of laccase activity and laccase gene transcription. We also found that there existed a positive synergistic effect of aromatic compound and metal ion on the laccase production and laccase gene transcription in Trametes velutina 5930. Taken together, our study may contribute to the improvement of laccase productivity by Trametes velutina 5930.

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Enhancing the Laccase Production and Laccase Gene Expression in the White-Rot Fungus Trametes velutina 5930 with Great Potential for Biotechnological Applications by Different Metal Ions and Aromatic Compounds.

Huahua Liu

Papers

Efficient decolorization and detoxification of the sulfonated azo dye Reactive Orange 16 and simulated textile wastewater containing Reactive Orange 16 by the white-rot fungus Ganoderma sp. En3 isolated from the forest of Tzu-chin Mountain in China

Enhancing the Laccase Production and Laccase Gene Expression in the White-Rot Fungus Trametes velutina 5930 with Great Potential for Biotechnological Applications by Different Metal Ions and Aromatic Compounds.