LIGNINASES PRODUCTION BY BASIDIOMYCETES STRAINS ON LIGNOCELLULOSIC AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES AND THEIR APPLICATION IN THE DECOLORIZATION OF SYNTHETIC DYES

Wood rotting Basidiomycetes collected in the Estacao Ecologica do Noroeste Paulista, Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, concerning Aphyllophorales order and identified as Coriolopsis byrsina SXS16, Lentinus strigellus SXS355, Lentinus sp SXS48, Picnoporus sanguineus SXS 43 and Phellinus rimosus SXS47 were tested for ligninases production by solid state fermentation (SSF) using wheat bran or rice straw as culture media. C. byrsina produced the highest laccase (200 U mL(-1)) and Lentinus sp produced the highest activities of manganese peroxidase (MnP) and lignin peroxidase (LiP) (7 and 8 U mL(-1), respectively), when cultivated on wheat bran. The effect of N addition on enzyme production was studied in medium containing rice straw and the data showed an increase of 3 up to 4-fold in the laccase production compared to that obtained in SSF on wheat bran. The laccases presented optimum pH at 3.0-3.5 and were stable at neutral pH values. Optimum pH for MnP and LiP activities was at 3.5 and between 4.5 and 6.0, respectively. All the strains produced laccase with optimum activities between 55-60 degrees C while the peroxidases presented maximum activity at temperatures of 30 to 55 degrees C. The crude enzymes promoted decolorization of chemically different dyes with around 70% of decolorization of RBBR and cybacron blue 3GA in 6h of treatment. The data indicated that enzymes from these basidiomycetes strains are able to decolorize synthetic dyes.