Siderophore production in fungi from asbestos biofilms: The first step towards bioremediation of a carcinogenic mineral

Dan Blanchon^{1, 2, *}, Peter de Lange², Erin Doyle², Tianyi Tang², Nick Waipara³, Terri-Ann Berry⁴

Affiliations:
1 Auckland Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira.
2 Applied Molecular Solutions Research Centre, Unitec Institute of Technology | Te Pūkenga
3 The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited
4 Environmental Innovation Centre
* Corresponding author: dblanchon@aucklandmuseum.com

Received: 21 September 2023 | Accepted: 04 December 2023 | Published: 03 March 2024
Senior Editor: Marleen Baling
https://doi.org/10.34074/pibdiv.002102

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Abstract:
Asbestos refers to six types of fibrous, silicate minerals, historically used for a wide range of household, commercial and industrial applications. Asbestos exposure is known to cause diseases such as asbestosis, pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer, and is responsible for around 220 deaths per year in Aotearoa / New Zealand. Asbestos is disposed of using a designated hazardous landfill facility, an expensive and unsustainable practice. As an alternative, research has focused on bioremediation to manage asbestos contamination. Bioremediation research has shown that asbestos fibres can be partially degraded, and surface reactivity decreased, by the activity of iron-chelating siderophores, produced by some fungi and bacteria. This paper presents initial results of siderophore-detecting chrome azurol S (CAS)-agar plate assays on mycobiota collected from biofilms from asbestos-containing building products in Auckland and natural asbestos mineral deposits in Kahurangi National Park, north-west Nelson.