Physiological studies on some agaricomycetes for bioremediation of industrial pollutants

Abstract

Bioremediation is defined as the use of biological entities for the removal of environmental pollutants. Studies were conducted to know the physiological behaviour of three agaricomycetous fungi viz: Rigidoporus vinctus, Chondrostereum purpureum and Ceriporia xylostromatoides with respect to physical factors (temperature, H-ion concentration and days of incubation) and the effect of carbon and nitrogen sources on growth and enzyme production. The studies were further employed to investigate the effect of these fungi in adsorption of dyes (congo red and methylene blue) from aqueous solution and treatment of Industrial pollutants. The study revealed that there was significant production of ligninolytic enzymes including lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase and laccase. These enzymes are significant at the industrial level in treatment of various environmental pollutants. newline