ABSTRACT
Hydrocarbons are ubiquitous in the environment, but they are most abundant where coal and petroleum fuels are stored, processed, or burned (Tuháčková et al. 2001; Warshawsky 1999). Because many hydrocarbons are toxic, their biological effects have been studied extensively. Occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the aluminum, coke, and steel industries has been linked to lung and bladder cancer (Mastrangelo et al. 1996) and exposure to hydrocarbon fuels may produce neurotoxic effects (Ritchie et al. 2001). Mammalian metabolites of benzo[a]pyrene, the most important carcinogen in natural PAH mixtures, form adducts with macromolecules and interfere with cellular signaling pathways (Miller and Ramos 2001). Some PAHs are either weakly estrogenic or antiestrogenic (Santodonato 1997). The widespread ability of yeasts and filamentous fungi to transform hydrocarbons suggests that they may be involved in the recycling of naturally occurring hydrocarbons in the environment as well as in the biodeterioration of liquid fuels (Lindley 1992). Their versatility in degrading hydrocarbons is due to the broad substrate specificity of their enzymes (Cerniglia and Sutherland 2001). Selected fungi are now being exploited for the bioremediation of soils contaminated with hydrocarbon wastes (Atlas and Cerniglia 1995; Cerniglia and Sutherland 2001) and other species are used for the biotransformation of hydrocarbons to higher-value compounds (Trudgill 1994).
