Abstract
The biodegradation of organic compounds present in water at trace concentration has become a critical environmental problem. In particular, enzymatic oxidation by fungal laccases offers a promising alternative for efficient and sustainable removal of organic pollutants in water. In this work, the biocatalytic ability of laccases from the Pycnoporus sanguineus CS43 fungus was evaluated. A filtered culture supernatant (laccase cocktail) evidenced an enhanced biotransformation capability to remove common endocrine-disruptor compounds (EDCs), such as bisphenol A, 4-nonylphenol, 17-α-ethynylestradiol and triclosan. A biodegradation of around 89–100 % was achieved for all EDCs using synthetic samples (10 mg L−1) and after the enzymatic treatment with 100 U L−1 (50.3 U mg −1). The biodegradation rates obtained were fitted to a first order reaction. Furthermore, enzymatic biocatalytic activity was also evaluated in groundwater samples coming from northwestern Mexico, reaching biotransformation percentages between 55 and 93 % for all tested compounds. As far as we know this is the first study on real groundwater samples in which the enzymatic degradation of target EDCs by a laccase cocktail from any strain of Pycnoporus sanguineus was evaluated. In comparison with purified laccases, the use of cocktail offers operational advantages since additional purification steps can be avoided.
Highlights
Over the last few decades, the water pollution by micropollutants from anthropogenic sources, such as pharmaceuticals, manufacturing additives or personalcare products, has become one of the most urgent issues to be solved (Lloret et al 2012)
According to Ramírez-Cavazos et al (2014b), the laccase isoforms produced by P. sanguineus in tomato juice medium and present in the crude extract show a relative activity of 65 % at 25 °C, increasing up to 100 % at 40 °C; the optimal pH values were observed in the acidic region
Bands around 275–290 nm are characteristic for phenolic compounds, indicating a clear biotransformation of these endocrinedisruptor compounds (EDCs) by laccase cocktail
Summary
Over the last few decades, the water pollution by micropollutants from anthropogenic sources, such as pharmaceuticals, manufacturing additives or personalcare products, has become one of the most urgent issues to be solved (Lloret et al 2012). Due to their widespread presence in the environment and their toxic activity even at low concentrations (pgL−1 – ngL−1; Debaste et al 2014), the detection and quantification of endocrine-. EDCs are a group of environmental chemicals, from synthetic and natural origin, known for their negative influence on the endocrine system of living organisms (LaFleur and Schug 2011). Due to EDCs that are slowly biodegraded under aerobic conditions, some of them can persist for more than 40 years as observed in estuary sediments (Miller et al 2008)
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