REMOVAL OF PHENOL BY IMMOBILIZATION OF TRAMETES VERSICOLOR IN SILICA-ALGINATE-FUNGUS BIOCOMPOSITES AND LOOFA SPONGE. CONTRIBUTION OF LIGNINOLYTIC ENZYMES TO THE PROCESS

MAIRA CARABAJAL; MERCEDES PERULLINI; MATIAS JOBBÁGY; RENÉ ULLRICH; MARTIN HOFRICHTER; LAURA LEVIN

CLEAN Soil, Air, Water

WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co.

Año: 2016 vol. 44 p. 180 - 188

White-rot fungi have potential in organ pollutant degradation. Immobilization of microorganisms has been successfully used for bioremediation. In this work, 25 isolates of Argentinean white-rot fungi were tested for their tolerance towards up to 10 mM phenol in agar plates. Seven isolates were further evaluated for their ability to grow on plates with 2,6-dimethoxyphenol, gallic acid, 2,4-dichlorophenol or guaiacol (7.5 mM), or with phenol as sole carbon source. Best results were obtained with Trametes versicolor, Irpex lacteus, Lentinus tigrinus and Pleurotus lindquistii. The ability of immobilized cultures of T. versicolor BAFC 2234 to remove phenol, was studied. Silica-alginate-fungus-biocomposites resulted in phenol removal (10 mM) of up to 48% within 14 days. Immobilized on Luffa aegyptica, it removed between 62% and 74% of phenol (15 mM) in 3 repeated cycles over a period of 23 days. Laccase was the main oxidative enzyme activity detected, and the purified enzyme oxidized in vitro 84% of phenol (0.5 mM) within 4 h, while 43% was converted by a purified Mn-peroxidase. Phenol phytotoxicity decreased noticeably. The concentrations of phenol removed are amongst the highest reported so far, thus this strain of T. versicolor may have good prospects for application in industrial wastewater treatment.