Cladosporium rugulovarians AF12: A potential biological agent for Acid Red 88 dye Decolorization

Abstract

The isolated Cladosporium rugulovarians AF12 from local dye effluent was used to evaluate the biodegradation and decolorization of the Acid Red 88. The fungal strain was evaluated for its dye decolorization ability and various parameters were also studied for achieving maximal degradation. Ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) were utilized to study the decolorization and degradation of the dye. The dye decolorization in PDB media observed for the dye concentrations 100, 200, 500, and 1000 mg L-1 were 80.85%, 80.78%, 44.42%, and 26.0% respectively. The dye decolorization in modified kirk’s media for 100, 200, and 500 mg L-1 were 38.84%, 24.21%, and 12.13% respectively. The highest decolorization of 100mg L-1 concentration AR 88 was observed in PDB media and modified kirk’s media. The extracellular enzyme MnP was produced by C. rugulovarians AF12, whose activity was found to be 48.31U L-1 in fungal decolorized broth. This makes it evident that MnP is involved in dye decolorization. The FTIR spectra of metabolites showed variation in the peaks compared to the control. HPLC was utilized to analyse the metabolites formed due to biodegradation of AR 88 by fungal strain C. rugulovarians AF12. The fungal strain of ascomycetes class, C. rugulovarians AF12 is potentially significant to decolorize and biodegrade the textile effluents.