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Fungal biodegradation of dibutyl phthalate and toxicity of its breakdown products on the basis of fungal and bacterial growth

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Abstract

Phthalates are esters of phthalic acid that give flexibility to polyvinyl chloride. Diverse studies have reported that these compounds might be carcinogenic, mutagenic and/or teratogenic. Radial growth rate, biomass, hyphal thickness of Neurospora sitophyla, Trichoderma harzianum and Aspergillus niger, grown in two different concentrations of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) (500 and 1,000 mg/l) in agar and in submerged fermentation were studied. The inhibitory concentration (IC50) and the constant of biodegradation of dibutyl phthalate in Escherichia coli cultures were used to evaluate toxicity. The radial growth rate and thickness of the hypha were positively correlated with the concentration of phthalate. The pH of the cultures decreased as the fermentation proceeded. It is shown that these fungi are able to degrade DBP to non-toxic compounds and that these can be used as sole carbon and energy sources by this bacterium. It is demonstrated that the biodegradation of the DBP is directly correlated with the IC50. This is the first study that reports a method to determine the biodegradation of DBP on the basis of the IC50 and fungal growth, and the effect of this phthalate on the growth and thickness of hyphae of filamentous fungi in agar and in submerged fermentation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dr.Arnold L.Demain for critically reading the manuscript and for his helpful comments. We are also grateful to Dr. Daniel Martinez-Carrera for molecular identification of the strains used in this work. M. Ahuactzin Pérez was supported by a CONACyT-México scholarship (No. 230571).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Biotechnology, Research Centre for Biological Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Apdo. postal 129, CP 90000, Tlaxcala, México

    G. Díaz-Godínez, R. Díaz & C. Sánchez

  2. Facultad de Agrobiología, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala, México

    M. Ahuactzin-Pérez & J. L. Torres

  3. Maestría en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, México

    M. Ahuactzin-Pérez

  4. Laboratorio de Biotecnología-CICyTA-ICAp, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachuca, México

    B. R. Rodríguez-Pastrana

  5. Departamento de Biotecnología, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Iztapalapa, DF, México

    J. Soriano-Santos

  6. Universidad Politécnica de Tlaxcala, San Pedro Xalcatzinco, Tepeyanco, Tlaxcala, México

    S. Tlecuitl-Beristain

Authors
  1. M. Ahuactzin-Pérez
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  2. J. L. Torres
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  3. B. R. Rodríguez-Pastrana
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  4. J. Soriano-Santos
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  5. G. Díaz-Godínez
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  6. R. Díaz
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  7. S. Tlecuitl-Beristain
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  8. C. Sánchez
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Correspondence to C. Sánchez.

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Ahuactzin-Pérez, M., Torres, J.L., Rodríguez-Pastrana, B.R. et al. Fungal biodegradation of dibutyl phthalate and toxicity of its breakdown products on the basis of fungal and bacterial growth. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 30, 2811–2819 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-014-1705-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-014-1705-1

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