Abstract The inappropriate disposal of toxic compounds generated by industrial activity has considerably impacted the environment. Microbial communities inhabiting contaminated sites may represent ecological alternatives for the decontamination of environments. The present work aimed to search the potential of fungi isolated from wastewater treatment plant of a textile industry for bioremediation processes. Twenty-three fungi previously isolated from textile effluent were evaluated for their abilities to degrade pollutants using heavy metal and hydrocarbon tolerance assays. One isolate was subjected to pyrene degradation due its ability to tolerate hydrocarbon. The majority of isolates were resistant to at least two metals tested, i.e. chrome, copper, lead and aluminum. Isolates Penicillium sp. ITF 2, Penicillium rubens ITF 4, Penicillium sp. ITF 12 and ITF 20 (not identified) showed tolerance to tested heavy metals in all concentrations. ITF 12 and ITF 20 were able to tolerate benzene, toluene and hexane, separately. ITF 12 was able to degrade 24.9% of pyrene after 5 days of cultivation. The results encourage future studies to optimize the tolerance and degradation assay using the isolates that showed the best results, as well as studies on the treatment of environments contaminated with heavy metals and hydrocarbons, including industrial textile effluents.

Abstract Disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) can be considered a risk to human health representing a great environmental problem in several countries. MSW landfills are a significant source of toxic elements in the environment. Microorganisms able to thriving in leachate wastewater may exhibit metabolic machinery to synthesize a wide range of enzymes able to degrade and/or discolor toxic compounds from leachate. The use of non-pathogenic microbial cells for human health, recovered from leachate for biotechnological application, can be considered a promising approach in bioremediation processes of toxic compounds found in these environments. The present work aimed to the isolation, antibiotic resistance evaluation and leachate discoloration by microorganisms isolated from landfill leachate of Foz do Iguaçu. Forty bacteria and fifteen filamentous fungi were isolated. From these, six bacterial showed resistance at least one tested antibiotic, while six fungal isolates showed resistance to the antimycotic nystatin. CCMIBA_4L (unidentified bacteria) and Paecilomyces sp. CCMIBA_5N, were able to discolor 19.15% and 25.26% of the leachate, respectively. The results of the present work encourage future studies to characterize the enzymes involved in the discoloration and degradation of the leachate. The findings demonstrated the potential for the use of microorganisms from landfill leachate as bioremediation tools.

Abstract Environmental pollution may be considered one of the main problems affecting the world population. As the effluents from textile industries are the largest representatives of sources of pollution of water bodies due to the disposal of colored compounds in the environment. Microorganisms capable of thriving in textile wastewater may exhibit metabolic machinery to synthesize a wide variety of enzymes and/or secondary metabolites of industrial interest. The present work investigated the biotechnological potential of filamentous fungi from wastewater of a textile industry for the production of laccase, cellulase, amylase and lipase enzymes and their potential for discoloration capacity of Remazol Brilliant Blue R synthetic dye. The isolate Aspergillus sydowii (ITF 30) presented the best cellulase (46.74 U mL-1), amylase, lipase and laccase (0.0273 U L-1) production, as well as RBBR dye discoloration ability in solid medium, followed by isolate Aspergillus sydowii (ITF 27) able to synthesize cellulase, amylase and laccase and had the capacity to discolor 74.7% of RBBR in liquid medium. The results of the present work encourage future studies of characterization, optimization and purification of the enzymes encountered, aiming to be used in bioremediation processes of textile industrial effluents.