Continuous Acid Blue 45 decolorization by using a novel open fungal reactor system with ozone as the bactericide

•A novel white-rot fungal reactor was successfully built and operated.•Ozone helped keep the reactor continuously operated under nonsterile condition.•Higher immobilized biomass facilitated higher MnP production and pollutant degradation.

To maintain long-term lignin-degrading enzyme production under non-sterile conditions was a key to the technical application of white rot fungi in wastewater treatment. In this work, a novel open fungal reactor system with ozone as the bactericide, and using immobilized Phanerochaete chrysosporium, was built and operated continuously to produce the manganese peroxidase and decolorize the Acid Blue 45. The results showed that an average of 84% Acid Blue 45 decolorization, the manganese peroxidase production with its activity ranging from 63 U L−1 to 5 U L−1, was achieved during about 25 days system continuous operation. The contaminating bacteria in the reactor can be controlled at a level of 4.65 × 104 CFU ml−1 that did not adversely affect the fungal activity. The result of this study provides a new practical way for future design and operation of white-rot fungi reactor under non-sterile conditions.

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