Copper (Cu) and Cobalt (Co) are among the most toxic heavy metals from mining and other industrial activities. Both are known to pose serious environmental concerns, particularly to water resources, if not properly treated. In recent years several filamentous fungal strains have been isolated, identified and assessed for their heavy metal biosorption capacity for potential application in bioremediation of Cu and Co wastes. Despite the growing interest in heavy metal removal by filamentous fungi, their exploitation faces numerous challenges such as finding suitable candidates for biosorption. Based on current findings, various strains of filamentous fungi have high metal uptake capacity, particularly for Cu and Co. Several works indicate that Trichoderma, Penicillium, and Aspergillus species have higher Cu and Co biosorption capacity compared to other fungal species such as Geotrichum, Monilia, and Fusarium. It is believed that far more fungal species with even higher biosorption capability are yet to be isolated. Furthermore, the application of filamentous fungi for bioremediation is considered environmentally friendly, highly effective, reliable, and affordable, due to their low technology pre-requisites. In this review, we highlight the capacity of various identified filamentous fungal isolates for biosorption of copper and cobalt from various environments, as well as their future prospects.

Understanding the level of heavy metal contamination coupled with the assessment of environmental and human risks associated with mine waste dumpsites is an important step to initiating efficient measures for mine wasteland restoration, stabilization, and bioremediation. In the present study, concentration of the heavy metals; Copper (Cu), Cobalt (Co), Iron (Fe), Lead (Pb), Manganese (Mn), and Zinc (Zn) in soil from mine waste dumpsites around Kitwe (Sites: BM and TD26) and Mufulira (Site: TD10), Zambia, was assessed to determine the level of contamination, ecological risks, and progress made in reclamation. The mine waste dumpsites in the two towns are located in the vicinity of residential areas. Therefore, there is need to provide information for optimization of protocols for post-mining landscape in Zambia and elsewhere to limit soil, river, and groundwater contamination and to accelerate the restoration process . Mean values for soil pH, electrical conductivity, and organic matter varied between 5.9–8.4, 2534.8–538.6 μS/cm, and 0.90–2.75%, respectively. The mean concentrations of heavy metals of BM, TD26, and TD10 decreased in order of Fe > Cu > Co > Mn > Pb > Zn across all sites. However, the order of overall degree of heavy metal contamination computed using control soil as a baseline in BM, TD26, and TD10 was Cu > Co > Fe > Pb > Mn > Zn. The pollution load index was 0.355 at BM, 0.329 at TD26, and 0.189 at TD10, indicating high soil pollution at BM and TD26. The Potential Ecological Risk Index for all heavy metals tested at BM, TD26, and TD10 showed low ecological risk in the vicinity of the studied dumpsites. Furthermore, the present study also showed that the polluted soils around smelter sites and mine waste dumpsites are susceptible to dispersion by wind and water. Additionally, results from TD10 revealed that the initiated remediation of the tailings dam was somewhat successful. Finally, this study provided an updated status regarding the accumulation of heavy metals in mine waste dumpsites of Kitwe and Mufulira, Zambia and baseline information necessary to enhance post-mining landscape reclamation.

There is great potential to remediate heavy metal contaminated environments through bioaugmentation with filamentous fungi. However, these fungi have been poorly investigated in most developing countries, such as Zambia. Therefore, the present study aimed at isolating indigenous filamentous fungi from heavy metal contaminated soil and to explore their potential for use in bioaugmentation. The conventional streak plate method was used to isolate fungi from heavy metal-contaminated soil. Filamentous fungal isolates were identified using morphological and molecular techniques. The radial growth diameter technique was used to evaluate heavy metal tolerance of the fungi. The most abundant and highly tolerant fungi, identified as Aspergillus transmontanensis, Cladosporium cladosporioides, and Geotrichum candidum species, were used to bioremediate heavy metal contaminated soil samples with uncontaminated soil sample being employed as a control. A maximum tolerance index (TI) between 0.7 and 11.0 was observed for A. transmontanensis, and G. candidum while C. cladosporioides displayed the TI between 0.2 and 1.2 in the presence of 1,000 ppm of Cu, Co, Fe, Mn, and Zn. The interspecific interaction was analyzed to determine the compatibility among isolates. Our results showed mutual intermingling between the three evaluated fungal species, which confirms their common influence in biomineralization of heavy metals in contaminated soils. Maximum bio-removal capacities after 90 days were 72% for Cu, 99.8% for Co, 60.6% for Fe, 82.2% for Mn, and 100% for both Pb and Zn. This study has demonstrated the potential of highly resistant autochthonous fungal isolates to remediate the heavy metal contamination problem.

Mycorrhizae are found on about 70–80 % of the roots of all plant species; ectomycorrhizae (ECM) are mostly found on woody plants and gymnosperms, whereas arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are found on 80–90 % of all plant species. In abandoned mining sites, woody plants dominate, while non-woody species remain scarce. However, this pattern depends on the specific mine site and its ecological context. This review article explores the potential of using mycorrhizae-plant associations to enhance and facilitate the remediation of mine wastelands and metal-polluted sites. In this review, we employed reputable databases to collect articles and relevant information on mycorrhizae and their role in plant growth and soil fertility spanning from the 1990s up to 2024. Our review found that the abilities of plants selected for minewasteland reclamation can be harnessed effectively if their mycorrhizae utilization is known and considered. Our findings indicate that AMF facilitates plant cohabitation by influencing species richness, feedback effects, shared mycelial networks, and plant-AMF specificity. Several types of mycorrhizae have been isolated from mine wastelands, including Glomus mosseae, which reduces heavy metal accumulation in plants, and Rhizophagus irregularis, which enhances plant growth and survival in revegetated mine sites. Additionally, studies on ECM in surface mine spoil restoration stands highlight their role in enhancing fungal biodiversity and providing habitats for rare and specialized fungal species. Recent research shows that ECM and AMF fungi can interact synergistically to enhance plant growth, with ECM improving plant nitrogen absorption and AMF increasing nitrogen use efficiency. Our review also found that despite their critical role in improving plant growth and resilience, there remains limited knowledge about the specific mechanisms by which mycorrhizae communicate with each other and other microorganisms, such as bacteria, root-associated fungi, soil protozoa, actinomycetes, nematodes, and endophytes, within the soil matrix. This article highlights the connection between mycorrhizae and plants and other microorganisms in mine wastelands, their role in improving soil structure and nutrient cycling, and how mycorrhizae can help restore soil fertility and promote plant growth, thus improving the overall environmental quality of mine wasteland sites.

Background: Sucrose transporters (SUTs) mediate sucrose phloem loading in source tissue and sucrose unloading into sink tissue in potatoes and higher plants, thus playing a crucial role in plant growth and development. In potatoes, the physiological function of the sucrose transporters StSUT1 and StSUT4 has been clarified, whereas the physiological role of StSUT2 is not yet fully understood. Methods and Results: This study analyzed the relative expression of StSUT2 compared to that of StSUT1 and StSUT4 in different tissues from potatoes and its impact on different physiological characteristics by using StSUT2-RNA interference lines. Here, we report a negative effect of StSUT2-RNA interference on plant height, fresh weight, internodes number, leaf area, flowering time, and tuber yield. However, our data indicate that StSUT2 is not involved in carbohydrate accumulation in potato leaves and tubers. In addition, the data of the RNA-seq between the StSUT2-RNA interference line and WT showed that 152 genes were differentially expressed, of which 128 genes were upregulated and 24 genes were downregulated, and the GO and KEGG analyses revealed that differentially expressed genes were mainly related to cell wall composition metabolism. Conclusions: Thus, StSUT2 functions in potato plant growth, flowering time, and tuber yield without affecting carbohydrate accumulation in the leaves and tubers but may be involved in cell wall composition metabolism.