Biodegradation and biotransformation of pentachlorophenol by wood-decaying white rot fungus Phlebia acanthocystis TMIC34875

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) has been introduced into the environment mainly as a wood preservative and biocide. The degradation and transformation of PCP in liquid culture by wood-decaying fungus capable of degrading organochlorine pesticides was investigated in this study. The results of tolerance test showed that the tolerance level of Phlebia acanthocystis to PCP in potato dextrose agar medium was higher than that of other Phlebia species. At the end of 10 days of incubation, P. acanthocystis was able to remove 100% and 76% of PCP (25 μM) in low-nitrogen and potato dextrose broth media, respectively. The decrease of PCP in P. acanthocystis culture is accompanied by the formation of pentachloroanisole and p-tetrachlorohydroquinone via methylation and oxidation reactions. Moreover, the p-tetrachlorohydroquinone formed is rapidly converted to methylated products including tetrachloro-4-methoxyphenol and tetrachloro-1,4-dimethoxybenzene. The activities of lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase were found to increase in extracellular fluid from fungal culture treated with high-concentration PCP, with maximum values of 169.6 U/L and 73.4 U/L, respectively. The in vitro degradation of PCP and p-tetrachlorohydroquinone was confirmed using extracellular fluid of P. acanthocystis, suggested that the methylation of both compounds is related to extracellular enzymes. Degradation of PCP was efficiently inhibited by piperonyl butoxide or 1-aminobenzotriazole, demonstrating that cytochrome P450 monooxygenase is involved in fungal transformation of PCP, particularly in the oxidation of PCP to p-tetrachlorohydroquinone. Additionally, P. acanthocystis mineralized 9.3% of the PCP to ¹⁴CO₂ in low-nitrogen culture during 42 days. Results obtained in the present study are in favor of the use of P. acanthocystis as a microbial tool of remediation of PCP-contaminated sites.