Potential of a white-rot fungus Pleurotus eryngii F032 for degradation and transformation of fluorene

The white-rot fungus Pleurotus eryngii F032 showed the capability to degrade a three fused-ring aromatic hydrocarbons fluorene. The elimination of fluorene through sorption was also investigated. Enzyme production is accompanied by an increase in biomass of P. eryngii F032 during degradation process. The fungus totally degraded fluorine within 23 d at 10-mg l⁻¹ solution. Fluorene degradation was affected with initial fluorene concentrations. The highest enzyme activity was shown by laccase in the 10-mg l⁻¹ culture after 30 d of incubation (1620 U l⁻¹). Few activities of enzymes were observed in the fungal cell at the varying concentration of fluorene. Three metabolic were detected and separated in ethylacetate extract, after isolated by column chromatography. The metabolites, 9-fluorenone, phthalic acid, and benzoic acid were identified using UV–vis spectrophotometer and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The results show the presence of a complex mechanism for the regulation of fluorene-degrading enzymes.