J. Agric. & Env. Sci. (Damanhour University) 2023, 22 (1): 121-152 Print: ISSN 1687-1464 Online: 2735-5098 121 ENRICHMENT, ISOLATION, AND SCREENING OF DYE- DECOLORIZING HALOTOLERANT MICROBIAL STRAINS Aya G. Faramawy 1* , Mona E.M. Mabrouk 1 , Soraya A. Sabry 2 , Mervat A. Arayes 1 1 Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Damanhour University, Damanhour, Egypt. 2 Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt *Corresponding author: Email: mervat.amen@sci.dmu.edu.eg *ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7860-817X ABSTRACT Recently, environmental pollution has increased and become one of the serious aspects facing the world due to industrialization and rapid population, this led to the emergence of many problems that have affected the life of living organisms. Among various pollutants are dyes which have multiple industrial uses. Azo dyes are carcinogenic and mutagenic and pose hazards to humans, animals, and aquatic life. It is more difficult to degrade these dyes because they are recalcitrant. Microbial degradation has been extensively explored. Fungi are an efficient tool in dye decolorization due to their various mechanical features. The purpose of this article is a trial to enrich and isolate different microbial strains inhabiting the Egyptian samples and to highlight their potential for remediation by decolorizing dyeing waters. Here, thirteen halotolerant strains were isolated from water and sediment samples of Kom Belal Lake of Idko, Al-Beheira, Egypt, under