Characterization of Fungi that Able to Degrade Phenol from Different Contaminated Areas in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background and Objective: Aromatic compounds, such as phenols, occur in the wastewaters of a number of industrial sectors, petroleum refining, pesticide, chemicals and plastics production, pharmaceutical industries, steel industries and dye manufacturing products. Materials and Methods: Various fungal strains were isolated from different contaminated sites in Saudi Arabia and screened for phenol degradation. Results: Three fungal isolates demonstrated a high degradation for phenol. These isolates were microscopically and molecularly identified. Partial sequence of 18S rRNA identified these strains as Aspergillus niger (S1), Penicillium griseofulvum (S2) and Aspergillus terreus (S3). The factors that affected the degradation rate of phenol were studied in this work such as (pH, temperature, shaking and incubation time). The selected strains can degrade phenol at pH 5-7, they degrade (19-29% of phenol). However, the optimum temperature was at 20-30EC and optimum degradation occurs at static condition until 100 rpm. Different incubation periods were studied and it appeared that the degradation started after 3 days. Aspergillus niger, Penicillium griseofulvum and Aspergillus terreus degrade (13, 3 and 8% of phenol), respectively but the optimum degradation occur after 15 days, they degrade (86, 63 and 77% of phenol), respectively. Conclusion: This study revealed that Aspergillus niger, possessed greater potential to degrade phenol when compared with other fungal strains.