The soil of the ceramic pole in the Santa Gertrudes town, São Paulo State, Brazil, has been polluted since decades with several chemical elements, mainly lead and zinc. Four soil samples were collected, two during rainy and two during dry seasons, at five sites during November 2002 to June 2003, and measures of temperature, pH, lead, zinc and moisture soil contents were made. Fungi were obtained by Warcup's soil-plate method, modified by application of 1 cm³ of aqueous soil suspensions (1:10) over malt agar (2%), added with Zn(NO3)2 or Pb(NO3)2 in increasing concentrations: 0, 100, 200, 500 or 1,000 mg dm-3. After five days of incubation at 25 ºC, the colonies were purified and identified. Seventy anamorphic fungi were obtained, with 70% of similarity between mycotas isolated from the media added with metals. Forty-three taxa were isolated from culture media with Pb(NO3)2, with predominance of isolations in higher concentrations (500 and 1,000 mg dm-3). Sixty-three taxa were obtained in the media with Zn(NO3)2, mainly in moderate and high concentrations (200 and 500 mg dm-3). Trichoderma spp., Penicillium spp. and several fungi species usually found in decomposing plant debris prevailed. The tendency to obtain higher numbers of fungal taxa in culture media with moderate to high concentrations of Zn and Pb may be justified by the existence of well adapted and competitive soil mycota, characterized by a high tolerance to metals and an efficient saprobic competitive ability.
anamorphs; ceramic pole; environmental impact; fungal diversity; heavy metals
