Full Length Research Paper

Autochthonous white rot fungi from the tropical forest: Potential of Cuban strains for dyes and textile industrial effluents decolourisation

Maria. I. Sánchez-López ¹, Sophie F. Vanhulle², Valérie Mertens², Gilda Guerra¹, Sara Herrera Figueroa⁴, Cony Decock³, Anne-Marie Corbisier² and Michel J. Penninckx⁵*

¹Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de la Habana, Calle 25 #455, CP:10400, Ciudad Habana, Cuba.

²Unité de Microbiologie, Faculté d’Ingénierie Biologique, Agronomique et Environnementale, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 3 boîte 6, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

³Mycothèque de l’Université catholique de Louvain (MUCL, MBLA), Faculté d’Ingénierie Biologique, Agronomique et Environnementale, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 3, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

⁴Instituto de Ecologia y Systematica, Division de Micologia Carretera de Varona Km 3 ½, Capdevilla, Ciudad Habana, Cuba.

⁵Laboratoire de Physiologie et Ecologie Microbienne, Ecole Interfacultaire des Bioingénieurs, Université Libre de Bruxelles c/o Institut Pasteur, Rue Engeland 642, B-1180, Brussels, Belgium.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: upemulb@resulb.ulb.ac.be. Tel: +32 2 373 33 03. Fax: + 32 2 3733309

Accepted 26 March, 2008

Nineteen strains of wood-inhabiting pores fungi, representing thirteen species and ten genera, collected from both natural and “anthropic” (urban) ecosystems in Cuba were tested for their ability to decolourise the industrial anthraquinonic dye Acid Blue 62 (AB 62) in laboratory conditions, in both solid and liquid media. On the basis of their decolourisation rate and growth inhibition, seven strains viz. Tinctoporellus epimiltinus, Trametes maxima, Perenniporia tephropora, Coriolopsis rigida, Hexagonia tenuis, Pachykytospora alabamae and Hexagonia hydnoides were selected for further studies. All the strains were able to decolourise partially or completely the AB62 dye added to Malt extract. Almost total decolourisation was obtained with T. maxima. Decolourising activity was also shown with an industrial textile effluent, containing Remazol Yellow RGB, Remazol Red RR, and Remazol Black B 133. Production of laccase, a ligninolytic enzyme possibly involved in decolourisation, was stimulated by AB 62 for all the strains tested; T. maxima showing the highest production. Lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase were not produced under the experimental conditions used. T. maxima could represent a potential candidate for biotechnological applications. The exploitation of local biodiversity in tropical area appears as a potentially productive approach for identifying promising microbial strains for industrial use.

Key words: Anthraquinones, dyes, bioremediation, decolourisation, laccase, textile effluent, Trametes maxima, white rot fungi, Acid Blue 62.