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Degradation of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in wastewater by new thermophilic fungal isolates and their laccases

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Abstract

Thermophilic fungi are known to develop different metabolic and catabolic activities that enable them to function at elevated temperatures. Screening heat-resistant fungi, as promising resources for enzymatic activities, are still recommended. A total of eleven wood-decay thermophilic fungal strains were isolated from decaying organic materials (DOM) collected from arid areas of Khulais (Saudi Arabia). Six of these isolates are laccase-producing thermophilic strains growing at 50 °C. Among Laccase positive (Lac+) isolates, Chaetomium brasiliense (G3), Canariomyces notabilis (KW1), and Paecilomyces formosus (KW3) were exploited to treat single selected endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that belonged to different classes (synthetic steroid hormone: 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2), and alkylphenols:4-tert-butylphenol (4-t-BP)). Chaetomium sp. was selected due to its potentialities against target EDCs, and then, their laccases were extracted and exploited for the biocatalytic degradation of treated municipal sewage wastewaters (TMWW) mixed with 4-t-BP and EE2. The results show that within 2 h of catalyzing at 50 °C, laccase could degrade 60 ± 4.8% of 4-t-BP; however, it oxidized EE2 less efficiently, reaching 35 ± 4.1%. The influence of some redox mediators on the laccase oxidation system was investigated. The 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HBT) and syringaldehyde led to the highest transformation rates of EE2 (approximately 80 ± 2.4%). Near-total removal (90 ± 7.2%) of 4-t-BP was achieved with TEMPO in 2 h. With the metabolites identified through gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS), metabolic pathways of degradation were suggested. The results highlight the potential of Chaetomium sp. strains in the conversion of micropollutants.

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Acknowledgements

All the authors acknowledge and thank the Chemical Department of the College of Science and Arts of Khulais, for allowing the use of spectrophotometer. Also, we thank the students Lama Jamal Hussain Alssulime and Fatimah Qabil Abdulrahman Almaghrabi for helping in wood and wastewaters sampling.

Funding

This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR) of the University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, under Grant No. (UJ-20-109-DR). Therefore, the authors acknowledge and thank the DSR for its technical and financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, College of Sciences and Arts, Khulais, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Dalel Daâssi & Shuruq Rahim Alharbi

  2. Laboratory of Environmental Bioprocesses, Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax, P. B “1177”, 3018, Sfax, Tunisia

    Dalel Daâssi

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  1. Dalel Daâssi
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Contributions

DD proposed the research topic, provided necessary tools for the experiments, conceived, planned, and conducted all experiments, collected the data, contributed to the analysis and interpretation of the results, and contributed substantially to the writing and revision of the manuscript. DD was the academic supervisor of the student SRA and the principal investigator. SRA provided some necessary tools for the experiments and performed the GC–MS analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Dalel Daâssi.

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Daâssi, D., Alharbi, S.R. Degradation of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in wastewater by new thermophilic fungal isolates and their laccases. 3 Biotech 13, 26 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-022-03439-1

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