Biodegradation of pentachlorophenol by micromycetes. I. Zygomycetes

Abstract

AbstractA study of the biodegradation of pentachlorophenol (PCP) (100 mg/L) by 70 strains of Zygomycetes cultivated in liquid synthetic medium showed that most strains were able to degrade it extensively, except some from the genera Circinella, Mortierella, Mucor, and Spinellus. The most consistently effective genera were Absidia (degradation 69–88%) and Cunninghamella (degradation 62–90%). Much more scattered results were found with the genera Mortierella (degradation 0–67%), Mucor (degradation 18–86%), and Rhizopus (degradation 45–91%). The production of extracellular phenoloxidases was examined on solid media. Most of the strains were devoid of any phenoloxidase activity. The biodegradation of PCP did not depend on the presence of phenoloxidases since strains with a high level of phenoloxidases did not degrade PCP and the best degradation was obtained with strains devoid of phenoloxidases. Another mechanism must be proposed to explain the high biodegradation potential of Zygomycetes for PCP.