A large amount of azo dyes are used for
dyeing textiles. However, the dyes contaminate
wastewaters and need to be treated. This is important
because of the aesthetic, toxic and carcinogenic effects
of the affected waters. Recently there has been an
increase in interest in using white rot fungi (wrf) which
degrade xenobiotic compounds including azo dyes.
Wrf degrade lignin and others recalcitrant molecules
using nonspecific extracellular enzymes. Four white rot
fungi obtained from the Micoteca da Universidade do
Minho (MUM) culture collection were used to screen
for degradability capabilities. Reactice Black 5 (RB5)
was selected in the present work because these dyes are
most commonly used in the textile dyeing. Screening
for RB5 decolourisation was carried out on solid
medium in plates. Two wrf showed good growth and
decolourisation abilities. These are now under study to
determine which ligninolytic enzymes are produced