Decolourisation studies of azo dyes by locally isolated fungi for application as bioremediation agent

The four fungal isolates namely Marasmius cladophyllus, Cerrena unicolor, Cunninghamella bainieri and \nTrichoderma harzianium were used in the study of dye decolourisation. Orange G was chosen as a representative \nof azo dyes in the decolourisation study. The fungal isolates were used in Orange G decolourisation study in both \nsolid and liquid culture conditions. The study was carried out to test for the ability of locally isolated fungi in dye \ndegradation. It is also hoped that the ligninolytic enzymes can be identified and characterized at the end of \nexperiment. The results showed that M. cladophyllus MS8 could decolourise Orange G completely in solid GMM \nagar on day 7. Spectrophotometer analysis revealed that M. cladophyllus MS8 could remove 56.33% of Orange \nG in liquid GMM on the 16th day of decolourisation experiments. The enzyme assays conducted showed that \nlaccase, manganese peroxidase and lignin peroxidase were responsible for the Orange G decolourisation. \nMaximum percentage of Orange G decolourisation was recorded under optimal experimental condition with the \npresent of dye at a final concentration of 0.02% (w/v) and by two fungal plugs as inoculums. The Orange G was \ndecolourised rapidly initially in the 3 days pre-grown culture but only 40.90% of percentage of decolourisation \nwas achieved. RBBR was decolourised by M. cladophyllus MS8 effectively with 98.56% of color removal on the \n8 \nth day. These therefore show the interesting potential of fungal isolate M. cladophyllus MS8 for dye \ndecolourisation.