BIODEGRADATION OF AZO AND PHTHALOCYANINE DYES BY TRAMETES-VERSICOLOR AND BJERKANDERA-ADUSTA

Eighteen fungal strains, known for their ability to degrade lignocellu losic material or lignin derivatives, were screened for their potentia l to decolorize commercially used reactive textile dyes. Three azo dye s, Reactive Orange 96, Reactive Violet 5 and Reactive Black 5, and two phthalocyanine dyes, Reactive Blue 15 and Reactive Blue 38: were chos en as representatives of commercially used reactive dyes. From the 18 tested fungal strains only Bjerkandera versicolor and Phanerochaete ch rysosporium? were able to decolorize all the dyes tested. During degra dation of the nickel-phthalocyanine complex, Reactive Blue 38, by B. a dusta and T. versicolor respectively, the toxicity of this dye to Vibr io fischeri was significantly reduced. In the case of Reactive Violet 5, a far-reaching detoxification was achieved by treatment with B. adu sta. Reactive Blue 38 and Reactive Violet 5 were decolorized by crude exoenzyme preparations from T. versicolor and B. adusta in a H2O2-depe ndent reaction. Specific activities of the exoenzyme preparations with the dyes were determined and compared to oxidation rates by commercia l horseradish peroxidase.