SSS 2012-07-17

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A coal mine can degrade its local environment. But fungus¹ may inadvertently help clean up the mine with its own waste products. Researchers worked with the fungus called Silbela Axiculosa. As it makes spores², it also produces superoxide. That’s a highly reactive kind of oxygen. When the released superoxide bumps into the mineral manganese in the environment, it makes that mine much more reactive itself. The pepped-up manganese then grabs and holds a variety of toxic³ medals and other substances that need to be cleaned up and taken out of the coal mine drainage water. The research led by Colin Handso of Harvard and * ocean and graphic⁴ institution appears in the proceedings⁵ of the national academy of sciences. It’s been know that various bacteria and fungi⁶ can help in environmental remediation. The new research shows that production of the vital forms of manganese requires that fungi and bacteria be actively⁷ produce superoxide. So creating conditions that encourages the organism to create the superoxide could be the first step in the pathway by which they help the manganese to literally⁸ do the dirty work, and make some toxic sites a lot cleaner.

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