Biological Removal of Dibenzothiophene from Soil and Changes to soil Sulfate by White-Rot Fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium

This study investigated biodegradation of dibenzothiophene (DBT) in marsh soil spiked bywhite-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Soil samples were spiked with 100 ppm DBTand incubated at 30°C in a dark chamber for 30 days. Samples were evaluated for pH, Mnperoxidaseactivity, sulfate ion concentration and growth during the tests. Results showedmaximum levels of pH, Mn-peroxidase and sulfate concentrations at 8.19, 66 U L-1 and 31.21mg kg-1 respectively. Colony forming unit assay determinations for contaminated soil samplesshowed that the fungus was able to grow and use dibenzothiophene as a source of carbon andenergy. GC analysis of contaminated samples compared to control samples, demonstrateddegradation of DBT by Phanerochaete chrysosporium. There was no significantly improvedeffect on degradation when the treatment was performed in presence of soil micro flora. Thesystem attained a high rate of DBT degradation at approximately 83.34%, the 30 day testoperation under optimal conditions. After 20 days, the sulfate ion concentration in soil sampleshad almost doubled.