Potential of Mangrove-Derived Fungi for Environmental Bioremediation: Current Advances and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Coastal ecosystems are increasingly threatened by persistent pollutants, including heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, synthetic dyes, antibiotics, pharmaceutical residues, and saline industrial wastewater. Mangrove-derived fungi have received growing attention as promising biological agents for environmental bioremediation due to their unique adaptation to saline, anoxic, and pollutant-stressed habitats. This review discusses recent advances in the use of mangrove-derived fungi for environmental remediation, with emphasis on their ecological adaptations, remediation mechanisms, pollutant-specific applications, current challenges, and future perspectives. The reviewed studies show that mangrove-associated fungi can remove or transform contaminants through biosorption, bioaccumulation, biodegradation, and enzymatic biotransformation. These mechanisms are supported by fungal cell wall functional groups, intracellular detoxification systems, filamentous growth, and the production of extracellular enzymes such as laccases, lignin peroxidases, manganese peroxidases, and cytochrome P450 monooxygenases. Current evidence demonstrates their potential in heavy metal immobilization, hydrocarbon degradation, dye decolorization, antibiotic transformation, and saline wastewater treatment. However, most studies remain limited to laboratory-scale experiments, and field validation, process optimization, ecological safety assessment, and long-term monitoring are still required. Future research should focus on omics-guided strain selection, fungal-bacterial consortia, immobilized fungal systems, and pilot-scale bioreactors. Overall, mangrove-derived fungi represent valuable biological resources for developing sustainable remediation technologies and supporting coastal ecosystem restoration.