Biodegradation of reactive green dye (RGD) by indigenous fungal strain VITAF-1

• Enhanced ability of indigenous Aspergillus strain VITAF-1 in uptake and removal of reactive green dye.
• Confirmation of the degradation of reactive green dye using HPLC, FTIR and GC-MS.
• Inactivated biomass biosorption experiment for adsorption studies.
• 18S rRNA characterization for identification of the effective fungal strain.

Present study demonstrates the decolourization and degradation of reactive green dye (RGD) by indigenous fungal strain VITAF-1 isolated from dye contaminated sites of Tirupur district, T.N, India. The intensive metabolic activity of VITAF-1 led to 97.9% decolourization of RGD within 48 h at 30 ± 2 °C temperature in Minimal Salt Media (MSM). VITAF-1 had a strong capability to decolourize elevated concentrations of reactive green dye (250 mg L−1–1500 mg L−1) over a pH range of 3.0–9.0. Induction of oxidoreductive enzymes like laccase, LiP and DCIP reductase confirmed their potential role in degradation. Decolourization assay with living and dead biomass of VITAF-1 revealed its ability in absorbing RGD. The degradation capability of the isolate VITAF-1 was monitored using UV–Vis spectrophotometer, HPLC and FTIR analysis, further the degraded product was identified as benzoic acid, 2(-1-oxopropyl) by GC-MS. 18S rRNA gene sequencing confirmed the fungal strain VITAF-1 to be the nearest neighbour of Aspergillus sp.