Figures (5)  Tables (2)
    • Figure 1. 

      A detailed chart summarizing the mycoremediation techniques (adapted from Geris et al.[2]).

    • Figure 2. 

      Two CF developing on cow dung. (a) Young apothecia of Ascobolus scatigenus. (b) Young basidiocarps of Parasola misera. Photograph provided by Dr. Francisco Calaça.

    • Figure 3. 

      Life cycle of CF. Cow vector[94].

    • Figure 4. 

      A chronological template illustrating the sequential emergence of fruiting bodies of various coprophilous fungal genera over 8 weeks. (a) Mucor sp.[95], (b) Pilobolus roridus[96], (c) Piptocephalis sp.[97], (d) Podospra sp.*, (e) Ascobolus scatigenus*, (f) Chaetomium globosum[98], (g) Parasola misera* (h) Sphaerobolus stellatus[99], (i) Cyathus stercoreus[100]. * Photos provided by Dr. Francisco Calaça.

    • Figure 5. 

      A histogram illustrating the number of distinct recalcitrant pollutants degraded by each of the 16 fungal genera reported. Data sources Mucor[47,58,67,76], Pilobolus[87], Phycomyces[58], Saccobolus[60], Chaetomium[73,84], Coniochaeta[63,75], Podospora[65,66], Sordaria[89], Emericellopsis[48], Gymnoascus[81], Aspergillus[68], Coprinus[49,50,52,67,82], Cyathus[78], Panaeolus[53], Stropharia[56,69,9092], and Sphaerobolus[56].

    • Phase* Phylum Class CF genus Ref.
      Pre first phase 24 h Basidiomycota (yeasts) Tremellomycetes Cryptococcus, Trichosporon [32]
      Ascomycota (yeasts) Pichiomycetes Candida
      Dothideomycetes Aureobasidium
      First phase
      (2−3 d)
      Mucoromycota Chaetocladium, Mucor, Phycomyces, Pilaira, Pilobolus, Utharomyces [16,19,21,23]
      Kickxellomycota Kickxella
      Second phase
      (3−4 weeks)
      Ascomycota Pezizomycetes Ascobolus, Cheilymenia, Coprotus, Iodophanus, Lasiobolus, Saccobolus [16,1923]
      Leotiomycetes Thelebolus
      Sordariomycetes Chaetomium, Cercophora, Coniochaeta, Hypocopra, Cladorrhinum, Phomatospora, Podospora, Poronia, Selinia Sordaria, Stilbella, Zygopleurage
      Eurotiomycetes Aspergillus, Gymnoascus, Hamigera; Paecilomyces, Talaromyces
      Dothideomycete Delitschia, Trichodelitschia, Sporormiella
      Orbiliomycetes Arthrobotrys
      Final phase
      (3−8 weeks)
      Basidiomycota Agaricomycetes Bolbitius, Clitopilus, Conocybe, Coprinellus, Coprinus, Coprinopsis, Cyathus, Deconica, Panaeolus, Psathyrella, Psilocybe, Stropharia, Sphaerobolus [16,26,33,34]
      * Some fungal fruiting bodies could appear few days earlier or later then the mentioned time.

      Table 1. 

      Diversity of key coprophilous fungi and their taxonomic classification by successional phase.

    • Fungal genera Pollutants Ref.
      Mucor mucedo DSM810 TNT [44,47,67,68,76]
      Mucor circinelloides Heavy metals: Pb (II), Zn (II), Fe (III), Mn (II), and Cu (II)
      Mucor sp. Thermoplastic Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
      Pilobolus sp. Parathion methyl [87]
      Phycomyces sp. Petroleum hydrocarbons or other organic chemicals [58,59]
      Saccobolus saccoboloides Organic solid wastes [60]
      Chaetomium globosum ATCC16021 PCL and PVC (Polycaprolactone); Cellulosic materials and dyes [73,84]
      Coniochaeta hoffmannii Polypropylene [63,75]
      Coniochaeta sp. Petroleum hydrocarbons
      Podospora anserine Explosives and xenobiotic pollutants [65,66]
      Sordaria superba, Herbicides [89]
      Emericellopsis aciculosa Oxidize Mn [48]
      Gymnoascus arxii Natural and synthetic textiles dyes [81]
      Aspergillus niger 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) [68]
      Coprinus comatus Heavy metals such as Cu, Cd, Ni, Hg, and Pb [4952,67,82]
      Organic pollutants: naphthalene, fluoranthene, and endosulfan
      Coprinus plicatilis
      The textile dye remazol reactive blue 19
      Cyathus bulleri Textile effluent [78,79]
      Panaeolus papilionaceus Remove Pb2+ ions from aquatic medium. [53]
      Stropharia rugosoannulata TNT, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), carbamazepine, chlorinated phenols, dibenzo-p-dioxins, furans and other organic matters. [56,69,9092]
      Sphaerobolus stellatus Organic matters [56]

      Table 2. 

      An overview of the 16 fungal genera and their roles in mycoremediation of recalcitrant pollutants.