ABSTRACT
Man-made radionuclides can be derived from all the various elements, either as fission products or as activation products. Fungi have been shown to take up naturally occurring as well as man-made radionuclides. This chapter reviews the literature on the species-specific accumulation pattern as revealed by analyses of fungal fruit-bodies collected at different sampling sites, and the use of fungi as bioindicators of biosphere contamination. It summarizes the role of fungi in biogenous migration of radionuclides in soils and in the transfer along the food chain. Fungi play a key role in the biogenous migration of radionuclides in soil. Living and dead cells can be capable of generally rapid, metabolism-independent binding of radionuclides to cell walls, extracellular polysaccharides, or other materials, which is now frequently referred to as biosorption. Biosorption can be related to the ionic radius of an element and to the pH of the environment, which affects the solubility of metals.
