Bulletin of Pure & Applied Sciences- Botany

A total of nineteen species of fungi were isolated from the soil exposed to industrial effluents containing heavy metals using serial dilution plate method. R. oryzae, M. rouxii, A. flavus and P. spinulosum together comprised roughly two-third (64.59%) of the isolates obtained from metal-polluted soils. The Fusaria constituted only a very meagre fraction of 0.78% only. The mucoraceous fungi dominated the plates followed by aspergilli. A total of twenty four species of fungi were isolated from the soils polluted with effluents containing dyes. M. rouxii, R. oryzae, A. flavus and P. spinulosum together comprised majority (55.49%) of the isolates. The mucoraceous fungi constituted most prominent group followed by aspergilli and penicillia - the three groups together comprised overwhelming majority (75.24%) of the total isolates. The genus Aspergillus was represented by maximum number of species (8 species excluding Emericella nidulans) followed by Penicillium (4 species). Family Moniliaceae has the highest contribution to the mycoflora as 15 species (out of 35 isolated) belonged to this family. Monilliaceae was the most diverse taxonomic family. Metal pollution appears to exert greater adverse impact on soil mycodiversity than dye pollution. The potential of fungi to adsorb heavy metals must be an important factor contributing to their ability to survive and flourish in soils.