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Isolation and Screening of Black Fungi as Degraders of Volatile Aromatic Hydrocarbons

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Abstract

Black fungi reported as degraders of volatile aromatic compounds were isolated from hydrocarbon-polluted sites and indoor environments. Several of the species encountered are known opportunistic pathogens or are closely related to pathogenic species causing severe mycoses, among which are neurological infections in immunocompetent individuals. Given the scale of the problem of environmental pollution and the phylogenetic relation of aromate-degrading black fungi with pathogenic siblings, it is of great interest to select strains able to mineralize these substrates efficiently without any risk for public health. Fifty-six black strains were obtained from human-made environments rich in hydrocarbons (gasoline car tanks, washing machine soap dispensers) after enrichment with some phenolic intermediates of toluene and styrene fungal metabolism. Based on ITS sequencing identification, the majority of the obtained isolates were members of the genus Exophiala. Exophiala xenobiotica was found to be the dominant black yeast present in the car gasoline tanks. A higher biodiversity, with three Exophiala species, was found in soap dispensers of washing machines. Strains obtained were screened using a 2,6-dichlorophenol-indophenol (DCPIP) assay, optimized for black fungi, to assess their potential ability to degrade toluene. Seven out of twenty strains tested were able to use toluene as carbon source.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Regione Lazio–Dipartimento Economico Occupazionale–Settore per lo Sviluppo, Ricerca, Innovazione e Turismo for co-financing a contract for a young researcher (CDTRDIR no C0345/18 February 2010) and wish to thank Prof Katja Sterflinger for providing strain MA 2853 from the Austrian Center of Biological Resources and Applied Mycology culture collection (ACBR, Vienna, Austria; http://www.biotec.boku.ac.at/acbr.htm).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. D.E.B., Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Largo dell’Università s.n.c., 01100, Viterbo, Italy

    Daniela Isola, Laura Selbmann, Massimiliano Fenice, Silvano Onofri & Laura Zucconi

  2. CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, P.O. Box 85167, 3508 AD, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    G. Sybren de Hoog

  3. GIRO-IRTA, Torre Marimon, 08140, Caldes de Montbui, Barcelona, Spain

    Francesc X. Prenafeta-Boldú

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  1. Daniela Isola
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  2. Laura Selbmann
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  3. G. Sybren de Hoog
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Correspondence to Daniela Isola.

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Isola, D., Selbmann, L., de Hoog, G.S. et al. Isolation and Screening of Black Fungi as Degraders of Volatile Aromatic Hydrocarbons. Mycopathologia 175, 369–379 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-013-9635-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-013-9635-2

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