Ability of industrial dyes decolorization and ligninolytic enzymes production by different Pleurotus species with special attention on Pleurotus calyptratus, strain CCBAS 461

Eight different Pleurotus species were tested for their Orange G and Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR) decolorization capacity and their ligninolytic properties. All the species produced laccase (Lac) and manganese peroxidase (MnP) and in five species we found aryl-alcohol oxidase (AAO) activity. Strain CCBAS 461 of a very little studied species Pleurotus calyptratus was chosen for a more detailed study. This strain produced a relatively high amount of Lac, MnP and also AAO. Within 14 days the strain decolorized up to 91% of Orange G and 85% of RBBR in liquid culture and more than 50% of these dyes on agar plates. P. calyptratus is able to decolorize efficiently also other azo and phthalocyanine dyes, but only a limited decolorization capacity was found in the case of polyaromatic and triphenylmethane dyes. Lac and MnP production was strongly influenced by the kind of cultivation media and by the dye present.