Most people have never heard of the term mycoremediation, much less read about mushrooms and mycoremediation. Qualityspores.store hopes to show you in this entry of various psilocybe cubensis strains that psilocybe cubensis mushrooms and mycoremediation is a prominent topic for mycologists, environmentalists, and biologists who believe that mycoremediation and the power of mycelium just might be capable of saving the world.
Sounds too good to be true? You might be surprised about to learn about mushroom mycelium and “why is mycoremediation important?”
Understanding Mycoremediation Techniques, Research, and Mycoremediation Fungi
Let’s begin by establishing an understanding of mycoremediation, about mycoremediation research, and about mycoremediation fungi. There are various mycoremediation techniques to learn about. We can examine real-life examples of this bioremediation method in action, and bioremediation using fungi, and finally discuss how you can learn more.
What is Mycoremediation?
First, let’s break down the word mycoremediation. As you likely already know, myco- is a prefix pertaining to fungi—like how mycology is the study of fungi. The next part of the word, remediation, in this case refers to environmental remediation, which is any method or technology which removes pollutants, waste, or other contaminants from the natural environment, including soil and water.
➢ There is an important role for mushrooms in mycoremediation to learn about.
Environmental Remediation Using Fungi
So, combine the two, and you get mycoremediation, which is environmental remediation using fungi. Mycoremediation is a form of bioremediation, which is any kind of environmental remediation that involves the purposeful cultivation of microorganisms with the goal of degrading or eliminating pollutants.
Right, now that we have the definitions out of the way, just how does mycoremediation work?
As you know from reading our article psilocybe cubensis spores and mushroom research, fungi can be understood to basically have three stages: spores, mycelium, and fruiting bodies (mushrooms). The important bit to understand for mycoremediation is the mycelium.
While inaccurate, it can be easier to think of mycelium as the “roots” of mushrooms. It often looks like a white, spiderweb-like clumping that you’ve no doubt spotted before outside, perhaps on an old log or in the dirt.
Magic Mushrooms Mycelium and the Mycelial Network
As it grows, mushrooms mycelium forms a network, called a mycelial network. This network is essentially a kind of “stomach” for the fungi—its job is to break down anything tasty it finds into nutrients for the fungi using enzymes. Often these nutrients are sourced from decaying plant and animal debris, but since fungi have “non-specific” enzymes, the mycelial network is capable of breaking down just about anything.
Understanding the above, you must be having an “ah-ha!” moment! Mycoremediation harnesses this “digestive power” of mycelium and the process all begins with psilocybin spore kits. By targeting where a mycelial network is allowed to grow, it’s possible to break down pollutants in the environment.
➢ For example, mycoremediation has been successfully used to remediate toxins such as heavy metals, chemicals, petroleum waste, and pesticides.
What Kinds of Fungi Are Used For Mycoremediation?
You might be very surprised to learn the kinds of fungi used for mycoremediation originating from strains such as from Golden Teacher spores or coming from the Penis Envy spore syringe. Often, spores and fungi mushroom species used in mycoremediation aren’t particularly rare or unique. In fact, even the common oyster mushroom has been used to great effect in remediation, which we’ll learn a bit more about in the following section.
The Role of Mushrooms In Mycoremediation
Aside from oysters, which are one of the most commonly used mycoremediation mushrooms, other kinds of fungi include the mucor hiemalis fungi, and various fungi from the genera Trichoderma, Aspergillus, and Pleurotus have all shown great efficacy in the removal of toxins from the environment in their role of mushrooms in mycoremediation, particularly the degradation of heavy metals in the case of the latter genera mentioned.
Wood-decaying fungi such as Serpula lacrymans or Fomes fomentarius have also proven effective at remediating dyes from the environment, which is actually a much bigger problem than most would guess—dyes used in the textile or paper industry, many of which contain carcinogenic properties, are difficult to degrade using traditional remediation methods.
One study from the International Journal Of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research has shown promise in dye remediation utilizing a strain of Talaromyces funiculosum fungi.
Real World Examples of Mycoremediation
Mycoremediation is a Very Inexpensive Method of Bioremediation
Mycoremediation is a very inexpensive method of bioremediation, since it doesn’t require much in the way of specialized equipment or set-up. The technique has been used in many situations all around the world, such as:
- A particularly devastating oil spill in Ecuador, which affected the Amazon rain forest. VICE published a piece in 2015 to mop up the world’s largest oil spill discusses how a nonprofit group, the Amazon Mycorenewal Project, spearheaded the initiative to utilize mycoremediation efforts to clean things up and make the land usable again.
- In Denmark, mycoremediation is used in an impressive and unique way: a floating tube containing mycelium has been placed near an aquatic fuel station. The “fungi tube” then decomposes accidental petrol spills in the harbor, which serves over 300 coach boats.
- A mycoremediation experiment on the Fungal-Based Remediation: Treatment of PCP Contaminated Soil in New Zealand proved successful in reducing the levels of hazardous compounds in the soil and water in New Zealand.
- After the 2018 California wildfires, mycologists and environmentalists paired up to help with the cleanup to utilize mycoremediation in order to cleanse contaminated soil in populated areas (when buildings burn down, a lot of toxic chemicals are released into the soil).
As you can see, mycoremediation is already being used to great effect, but this bioremediation method is still in the relatively early stages of development – given enough time and research, it isn’t a stretch to imagine that it may become the world’s foremost method of environmental remediation. For us “Fungi Fans,” that’s pretty impressive to say the least.
Further Reading & Resources About Mycoremediation
The foremost publication about mycoremediation is Paul Stamets’ 2011 book about the topic, Mycelium Running. In the Mushroom mycelium running book the well-known mycologist goes into great detail about how and why mycoremediation works and how he predicts the method may be used in the future (and in several cases, the author was correct).
UPDATE: The post is now live! Please enjoy The Top 5 Fungi Books Every Amateur Mycologist Needs to Have On Their Shelf.