The bioaccumulation and translocation of Fe, Zn, and Cu in species of mushrooms from Russula genus.

INTRODUCTION: Many previous studies revealed a high ability of mushrooms to accumulate heavy metals from environment. This paper concerns the capacity of some wild macromycetes belonging to Russula genus to accumulate heavy metals in natural condition of pH (between 6.5 and 6.8) and the pattern of metal translocation in the fruiting body.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The studied Russula species are Russula virescens, Russula cyanoxantha, Russula foetens, and Russula nigrescens, which were harvested from forestry ecosystem from South Romania. The metal concentration in mushrooms and their substrate was established by EDXRF method. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The concentrations of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) in the fruiting body depends on species and vary between 58.83-340.34, 19.70-99.62, and 5.03-9.37 mg/kg for Fe, Zn, and Cu, respectively. The bioaccumulation factor has subunit values for the three studied trace metals, which show the low capacity of these species of mushrooms to accumulate metals if the concentrations in soil increase over the normal threshold for these elements. The high values of translocation factor demonstrate the mobility of Fe, Zn, and Cu in the studied mushrooms.