Hormesis and Low Toxic Effects of Three Lanthanides in Microfungi Isolated from Rare Earth Mining Waste in Northwestern Russia.

The low-dose toxicity of chloride and nitrate salts of three lanthanides (La, Ce and Nd) was tested on six microfungal species. Five of them (, , , and ) were isolated from the loparite ore tailings on the Kola Peninsula, northwestern Russia. was a control strain.

Tolerance of Rare-Earth Elements in Extremophile Fungus from Polar Loparite Ore Tailings in Northwestern Russia.

In this study, extremophile fungal species isolated from pure loparite-containing sands and their tolerance/resistance to the lanthanides Ce and Nd were investigated. The loparite-containing sands were collected at the tailing dumps of an enterprise developing a unique polar deposit of niobium, tantalum and rare-earth elements (REEs) of the cerium group: the Lovozersky Mining and Processing Plant (MPP), located in the center of the Kola Peninsula (northwestern Russia). From the 15 fungal species found at the site, one of the most dominant isolates was identified by molecular analysis as the zygomycete fungus (GenBank accession no.