N3.03 Wolfand 2016 ReNUWIt Annual Meeting Poster

Urban stormwater can be a substantial source of pollutants, including nutrients, organic compounds, and pathogens. Work is ongoing to develop a novel treatment system for nutrient removal that includes iron filings to remove phosphorus and a woodchips to biologically degrade nitrate. These bioreactors host an endemic population of white rot fungi (WRF) that can be harnessed for removal of organic pollutants and pathogens to provide a multipurpose stormwater treatment technology. WRF, a variety of wood-decay fungi, produce extracellular enzymes that can effectively degrade a suite of environmental contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, and pharmaceuticals.
This work focuses on the degradation of fipronil, an urban use pesticide, via white rot fungi. Laboratory studies show that the species T. versicolor actively degrades fipronil to its oxidation product, fipronil sulfone, in addition to four novel metabolites. Addition of the enzyme-inhibitor 1-aminobenztriazole suppressed formation of these metabolic byproducts, indicating that the intracellular P450 enzyme complex may be responsible for transformation. Studies are currently being conducted to determine the effect of carbon source on degradation. Overall, results indicate that white rot fungi could be used to degrade recalcitrant stormwater pollutants, especially when combined with other innovative treatment technologies.