The objective of this work was to test the PCB-degrading abilities of two white-rot fungi, namely Pleurotus ostreatus and Irpex lacteus, in real contaminated soils with different chemical properties and autochthonous microflora. In addition to the efficiency in PCB removal, attention was given to other important parameters, such as changes in the toxicity and formation of PCB transformation products. Moreover, structural shifts and dynamics of both bacterial and fungal communities were monitored using next-generation sequencing and phospholipid fatty acid analysis. The best results were obtained with P. ostreatus, which resulted in PCB removals of 18.5, 41.3 and 50.5% from the bulk, top (surface) and rhizosphere, respectively, of dumpsite soils after 12 weeks of treatment. Numerous transformation products were detected (hydoxylated and methoxylated PCBs, chlorobenzoates and chlorobenzyl alcohols), which indicates that both fungi were able to oxidize and decompose the aromatic moiety of PCBs in the soils. Microbial community analysis revealed that P. ostreatus efficiently colonized the soil samples and suppressed other fungal genera. However, the same fungus substantially stimulated bacterial taxa that encompass putative PCB degraders. The results of this study finally demonstrated the feasibility of using this fungus for possible scaled-up bioremediation applications.

Department for Innovation in Biological Agro food and Forest Systems University of Tuscia Via S Camillo De Lellis 01100 Viterbo Italy

Institute of Microbiology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v v i Vídeňská 1083 CZ 142 20 Prague 4 Czechia

Institute of Microbiology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v v i Vídeňská 1083 CZ 142 20 Prague 4 Czechia; Department for Innovation in Biological Agro food and Forest Systems University of Tuscia Via S Camillo De Lellis 01100 Viterbo Italy; Institute for Environmental Studies Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Benátská 2 CZ 128 01 Prague 2 Czechia

Institute of Microbiology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v v i Vídeňská 1083 CZ 142 20 Prague 4 Czechia; Institute for Environmental Studies Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Benátská 2 CZ 128 01 Prague 2 Czechia

Institute of Microbiology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v v i Vídeňská 1083 CZ 142 20 Prague 4 Czechia; Institute for Environmental Studies Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Benátská 2 CZ 128 01 Prague 2 Czechia; Department of Chemistry Biology and Biotechnologies University of Perugia Via del Giochetto snc 06122 Perugia Italy

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