Introduction

Processes of natural bioremediation of lignocellulose involve a range of organisms, but predominantly fungi (Hammel, 1997). Laboratory studies on the degradation of lignocellulose, including wood, straw, and cereal grains, have focused mainly on a few fungal species that grow well in the laboratory and can be readily manipulated in liquid culture to express enzymes of academic interest. Our current understanding of the mechanism of lignocellulose degradation stems from such studies. Although some of these enzymes have economic potential in a range of industries, for example pulp and paper manufacture and the detergent industry, it is frequently expensive and uneconomic to use them for bioremediation of pollutants in soils and water columns. In the successful commercial bioremediation processes developed, whole organisms have been used in preference to their isolated enzymes (Lamar & Dietrich, 1992; Bogan & Lamar, 1999; Jerger & Woodhull, 1999).

Most fungi are robust organisms and are generally more tolerant to high concentrations of polluting chemicals than are bacteria, which explains why fungi have been investigated extensively since the mid-1980s for their bioremediation capacities. However, the species investigated have been primarily those studied extensively under laboratory conditions, which may not necessarily represent the ideal organisms for bioremediation. Fungi in little-explored forests of the world, for example tropical forests, may yet prove to have even better bioremediation capabilities than the temperate organisms currently studied, exhibiting more tolerance to temperature and specialist environments.