White-rot fungal strains of Trametes versicolor
and Phanerochaete chrysosporium were selected to study
the decolourisation of the textile dye, Reactive Black 5,
under alkaline–saline conditions. Free and immobilised T.
versicolor cells showed 100 % decolourisation in the
growth medium supplemented with 15 g l-1 NaCl, pH 9.5
at 30 C in liquid batch culture. Continuous culture
experiments were performed in a fixed-bed reactor using
free and immobilised T. versicolor cells and allowed
85–100 % dye decolourisation. The immobilisation conditions
for the biomass and the additional supply of carbon
sources improved the decolourisation performance during a
long-term trial of 40 days. Lignin peroxidase, laccase and
glyoxal oxidase activities were detected during the experiments.
The laccase activity varied depending on carbon
source utilized and glycerol-enhanced laccase activity
compared to sucrose during extended growth
