The Arsenic Fungi of Gosio

Abstract

The authors have restudied the arsenic fungi of Gosio which decompose arsenical compounds with the production of volatile toxic gases. They find a number of fungi to be active producers of volatile arsenic gases, which hitherto have not been reported as such, including Aspergillus sydowi, A. fischeri, and a member of the A. glaucus group, together with 2 strains of Fusarium, a Paecilomyces and an unidentified dematiaceous form from soil. Ten strains of Penicillium brevicaule, previously reported by Gosio, were all active gas producers. Finding "active" species in the soil leads to the belief that the soil fungi may play a most important part in breaking down and eliminating As in the form of spray residues from the soil.