Biosorption of 241Am from solution and its biochemical fractionation in the mycelium of macromycetes

Experiments with macromycetes Pleurotus ostreatus, Neonothopanus nambi, and Agaricus bisporus demonstrated for the first time that live mycelium of mushrooms, cultivated on a liquid culture medium, can efficiently take up dissolved 241Am in its biomass. Biochemical fractionation of the mycelium biomass demonstrated for the first time that the major fraction (up to 90%) of 241Am accumulated in the mycelium is bonded to structural polysaccharides of the cell walls. The sorption capacity of cell wall polysaccharides for 241Am is 2.7-3.6 times higher than that of the initial mycelium biomass, and the activity concentration of 241Am in the polysaccharides reached 950 Bq g-1 dry weight. © 2015 Pleiades Publishing, Inc.