Metal accumulation inAgaricus bisporus: Influence of Cd and Cu on growth and tyrosinase activity

Summary To investigate heavy metal uptake in the common mushroomAgaricus bisporus, commercial cultures of the fungus were exposed to different amounts of copper ad cadmium. In contrast to copper, cadmium already exerted pronounced toxic effects at low concentrations (>10 M) in the compost and concomitantly enhanced the uptake of copper. Tyrosinase activity measured in the fruit bodies increased sharply, when small amounts of Cd (10 M) were added to copper-rich compost. Gel filtration experiments with crude extracts from fruit bodies demonstrated the absence of a low molecular weight metal binding protein.Acknowledgments. This work was supported by the Schweizerischer Nationalfonds grant 3.420–0.78 (to K.L.) and by Hauser Champignonkulturen AG. We are indepted to Dr D. Rast for helpful discussions.