Simultaneous removal of dihydroxybenzenes and toxicity reduction by Penicillium chrysogenum var. halophenolicum under saline conditions.

The dihydroxybenzenes are widely found in wastewater and usually more than one of these aromatic compounds co-exist as pollutants of water resources. The current study investigated and compared the removal efficiency of hydroquinone, catechol and resorcinol in binary substrate systems under saline conditions by Penicillium chrysogenum var. halophenolicum, to clarify the potential of this fungal strain to degrade these aromatic compounds. Since P. chrysogenum is a known penicillin producer, biosynthetic penicillin genes were examined and antibiotic was quantified in mono and binary dihydroxybenzene systems to elucidate the carbon flux of dihydroxybenzenes metabolism in the P. chrysogenum var. halophenolicum to the secondary metabolism. In binary substrate systems, the three assayed dihydroxybenzene compounds were found to be co-metabolized by fungal strain. The fungal strain preferentially degraded hydroquinone and catechol. Resorcinol was degraded slower and supports higher antibiotic titers than either catechol or hydroquinone. Dihydroxybenzenes were faster removed in mixtures compared to mono substrate systems, except for the case of hydroquinone. In this context, the expression of penicillin biosynthetic gene cluster was not related to the removal of dihydroxybenzenes. Penicillin production was triggered simultaneously or after dihydroxybenzene degradation, but penicillin yields, under these conditions, did not compromise dihydroxybenzene biological treatment. To investigate the decrease in dihydroxybenzenes toxicity due to the fungal activity, viability tests with human colon cancer cells (HCT116) and DNA damage by alkaline comet assays were performed. For all the conditions assays, a decrease in saline medium toxicity was observed, indicating its potential as detoxification agent.