RESUMEN
Wastewater from textile industries contains azo dye residues that negatively affect most environmental systems. The biological treatment of these wastes is the best option due to safety and cost concerns. Here we isolated and identified 19 azo dye-degrading fungi and optimized conditions resulting in enhanced degradation. The fungi belonged to five species of Aspergillus and a single Lichtheimia sp. All fungi were evaluated for their ability to decolorize 20 azo dyes. While the most easily transformable azo dye was direct violet (decolorization ranged from 71.1 to 93.3%), the most resistant to decolorization was fast green azo dye. The greatest degradation potential of azo dyes (direct violet and methyl red) was optimized using the most promising four fungal strains and changing media glucose concentration, nitrogen source, and micronutrients. Biomass, lignin peroxidase, and laccases production were also determined in the optimization studies. The decolorization of both azo dyes by the four fungal strains was greatly enhanced by glucose supplementation. The fungal strains were not able to produce lignin peroxidases in the absence of organic nitrogen source. Both yeast extract and casamino acid supplementation enhanced decolorization of direct violet and methyl red dyes and production of lignin peroxidase by the fungal strains. In contrast, the laccases were absent in the similar medium enriched with the same organic nitrogen sources.