A coal mine can degrade its local environment. But fungus may inadvertently help clean up the mine with its own waste products. Researchers worked with the fungus called Silbela Axiculosa. As it makes spores, it also produces superoxide. That’s a highly reactive kind of oxygen. When the released superoxide bumps into the mineral manganese in the environment, it makes that mine much more reactive itself. The pepped-up manganese then grabs and holds a variety of toxic medals and other substances that need to be cleaned up and taken out of the coal mine drainage water. The research led by Colin Handso of Harvard and * ocean and graphic institution appears in the proceedings of the national academy of sciences. It’s been know that various bacteria and fungi can help in environmental remediation. The new research shows that production of the vital forms of manganese requires that fungi and bacteria be actively produce superoxide. So creating conditions that encourages the organism to create the superoxide could be the first step in the pathway by which they help the manganese to literally do the dirty work, and make some toxic sites a lot cleaner.