Hydrolytic and ligninolytic enzyme activities in the Pb contaminated soil inoculated with litter-decomposing fungi

The impact of Pb contamination was tested to five hydrolytic (β-glucosidase, β-xylosidase, β-cellobiosidase, α-glucosidase and sulphatase) and two ligninolytic (manganese peroxidase, MnP and laccase) enzyme activities in the humus layer in the forest soil. The ability of eight selected litter-degrading fungi to grow and produce extracellular enzymes in the heavily Pb (40 g Pb of kg ww soil−1) contaminated and non-contaminated soil in the non-sterile conditions was also studied. The Pb content in the test soil was close to that of the shooting range at Hälvälä (37 g Pb of kg ww soil−1) in Southern Finland. The fungi were Agaricus bisporus, Agrocybe praecox, Gymnopus peronatus, Gymnopilus sapineus, Mycena galericulata, Gymnopilus luteofolius, Stropharia aeruginosa and Stropharia rugosoannulata. The Pb contamination (40 g Pb of kg ww soil−1) was deleterious to all five studied hydrolytic enzyme activities after five weeks of incubation. All five hydrolytic enzyme activities were significantly higher in the soil than in the extract of the soil indicating that a considerable part of enzymes were particle bound in the soils. Hydrolytic enzyme activities were higher in the non-contaminated soil than in the Pb contaminated soil. Fungal inocula increased the hydrolytic enzyme activities β-cellobiosidase and β-glucosidase in non-contaminated soils. All five hydrolytic enzyme activities were similar with fungi and without fungi in the Pb contaminated soil. This was in line that Pb contamination (40 g Pb of kg ww soil−1) depressed the growth of all fungi compared to those grown without Pb in the soil. Laccase and MnP activities were low in both Pb contaminated and non-contaminated soil cultures. MnP activities were higher in soil cultures containing Pb than without Pb. Our results showed that Pb in the shooting ranges decreased fungal growth and microbial functioning in the soil.