Growth and esterase activity of Fusarium culmorum grown in di(2- ethyl hexyl) phthalate in liquid fermentation

Abstract

Di (2-ethyl hexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is a plasticizer present in various products, mainly those made with PVC. This phthalate has attracted attention due to its important participation in the contamination of the environment. It has been reported as an endocrine-disrupting compound in mammals. Fusarium culmorum is a phytopathogenic fungus able to degrade DEHP, because it produces esterases, which are enzymes capable to break down ester bonds present in the structure of phthalates. In this research, growth, protein content and esterases activity by biochemical tests and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were characterized for F. culmorum grown in DEHP-supplemented (100 and 1500 mg/L) media as the only carbon source in liquid fermentation. F. culmorum showed higher biomass production and esterase activity in medium supplemented with 1500 mg of DEHP/L. Zymography revealed that bands with esterase activity were observed after 24 h and 48 h in media supplemented with 1500 and 100 mg of DEHP/L, respectively. It was shown that DEHP is an inducer of esterases and that this compound was used as carbon and energy sources by F. culmorum. This fungus can secrete specific esterase to breakdown high concentrations of DEHP, being a promising organism for bioremediation of DEHP-polluted environments in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Enhanced esterase activity during the degradation of dibutyl phthalate by Fusarium species in liquid fermentation

“…Fusarium oxysporum was able to degrade DBP (Kim & Lee, 2005 ), dipentyl phthalate (Ahn et al, 2006 ), dipropyl phthalate (Kim et al, 2005 ), di(2-ethyl hexyl) phthalate (DEHP) (Kim et al, 2003 ), and butyl benzyl phthalate (Kim et al, 2002 ). In addition, Fusarium culmorum was able to metabolize DEHP and DBP as previously reported by our group (Ahuactzin-Pérez et al, 2016 ; Ahuactzin-Pérez et al, 2018c ; Ríos-González et al, 2019 ). The proposed DBP biodegradation pathway shows that F. culmorum was able to metabolize this phthalate to malic and fumaric acids, which can be transformed into carbon dioxide and water (Ahuactzin-Pérez et al, 2018c ).…”

Cutinolytic esterases are induced by growth of the fungus Trichoderma harzianum on glyceryl monostearate in solid-state fermentation

“…Subsequently, the gels were incubated for 3 h at room temperature in a solution with 3 mM α-naphthyl acetate, 1 mM Fast Red TR (Sigma) and 100 mM phosphate buffer at pH 7.5 (Karpushova et al 2005;Canavati-Alatorre et al 2016;Ríos-González et al 2019). Finally, the gels were placed on a vinyl acetate sheet, and the activity of esterase was detected by the appearance of red bands, which image was then digitalized.…”