Toluene gas phase biofiltration by Paecilomyces lilacinus and isolation and identification of a hydrophobin protein produced thereof

Paecilomyces lilacinus consumed toluene as the sole carbon source in a gas-phase biofilter packed with perlite obtaining an average elimination capacity of 50 g m(-3) h(-1), a removal efficiency of 53%, and a final biomass of 31.6 mg biomass g dry support(-1). Hydrophobin proteins from the mycelium produced in the biofilter were purified by formic acid extraction and precipitated by electrobubbling, and the molecular weight was found to be 10.6 +/- 0.3 kDa. The peptide mass fingerprinting analysis of the purified hydrophobin by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight resulted in the identification of two peptides that presented high homology with sequences of class I hydrophobin proteins from other ascomycetous fungi when compared against the National Center for Biotechnology Information database. The yield of hydrophobin (PLHYD) from P. lilacinus was 1.1 mg PLHYD g biomass(-1). These proteins modified the hydrophobicity of Teflon by lowering the contact angle from 130.1 (+/-2) degrees to 57.0 (+/-5) degrees supporting hot sodium dodecyl sulfate washing. This work is the first report about biodegradation of toluene by the nematophagous fungus P. lilacinus in a gas-phase biofilter and the identification of its hydrophobin protein.