Abstract: A total of thirteen fungal strains with higher arsenic (As)- tolerance ability were isolated from six As-contaminated soil samples collected from the mining areas of Shimen County and Chenzhou City in Hunan Province. Among the strains isolated, Penicillin janthinellum, Fusarium oxysporum, and Trichoderma asperellum had the highest As-tolerance ability, based on the morphological identification and phylogenetic analysis. Culture experiment showed that on the solid plates with 30000, 30000, and 20000 mg·L^-1 of As, P. janthinellum, F. oxysporum, and T. asperellum had a better colony growth, and after cultured in the liquid medium with 0-50, 0-50, and 0-80 mg·L^-1 of As for 2 days, respectively, the dry mycelia masses of the three strains all increased with increasing As concentration. When the As concentration reached 50, 50, and 80 mg·L^-1, respectively, the fungal biomass of F. oxysporum, T. asperellum, and P. janthinellum increased significantly, compared with CK. High concentration As had no significant effects on the sporalation of the three fungal strains.

Key words: arsenic, fungi, isolation, arsenic-tolerant ability, niche, ecology.