Effect of nutrient nitrogen on the degradation of pentachlorophenol by white rot fungus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium

The effect of nutrient nitrogen on the degradation of pentachlorophenol (PCP) by Phanerochaete chrysosporium in a liquid culture was investigated. PCP disappeared at almost the same rate in both nutrient nitrogen-sufficient (NS) and -limited (NL) stationary cultures. However, more pentachloroanisole (PCA) was accumulated in the NS culture than in the NL culture. The effect of nitrogen on the degradation of PCA was also tested in both cultures. PCA disappeared faster in the NL culture than in the NS culture, indicating that the lower accumulation of PCA during the degradation of PCP in the NL culture was due to the faster degradation of PCA in the NL culture than in the NS culture. In another experiment, PCA was added to shaking cultures rather than stationary cultures to search for any other metabolite(s). While no other metabolite but PCA was found in the NS stationary culture, 2,4,5,6-tetrachloro-2,5-cyclohexadiene-1,4-dione (TCHD) was found as the only identifiable product in the NL shaking culture. Thus, PCP would appear to be metabolized to TCHD via PCA or directly oxidized to TCHD by lignin peroxidase. Since all the above results indicate that no innocuous metabolite was formed during the degradation of PCP by the fungus, it is quite feasible to use the fungus in the biotreatment of PCP.