Screening and investigation of dye decolorization activities of basidiomycetes

The decolorization of industrial dyes was investigated using extracellular enzymes produced by 21 basidiomycetes, mainly edible mushrooms. Among the 27 dyes used in this study, nine were decolorized by over 40%. Most fungi decolorized Acid Orange 20, but they showed different specificities in the case of the other dyes. Determination of activity staining by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that all the decolorization activities corresponded to 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) oxidation activities.