COMPARISON OF STATIC AND AGITATED IMMOBILIZED CULTURES OF PHANEROCHAETE-CHRYSOSPORIUM FOR THE DEGRADATION OF PENTACHLOROPHENOL AND ITS METABOLITE PENTACHLOROANISOLE

The transformation of pentachlorophenol (PCP) by Phanerochaete chrysos porium I-1512 in relation to pentachloroanisole (PCA) was studied in t wo different modes of culture. The degradation of PCP by immobilized c ells in agitated medium was compared with that by static cultures. Res ults clearly established the advantage of an immobilized culture for m ineralization of PCP: 23% of CO2 released for fungus immobilized on st ainless steel mesh rings as compared with 11% for static cultures. PCA , a metabolite of PCP, was formed only in static cultures and underwen t a limited mineralization. Moreover, experiments performed with mycel ium and culture supernatant (in the presence of cycloheximide) clearly demonstrated that PCA formation was catalyzed by the biomass in stati c cultures of P. chrysosporium. Assays in vitro did not establish any involvement of lignin or manganese peroxidases in PCP or PCA transform ation.