ORIGINAL PAPER Enzymatic characterization of Chilean native wood-rotting fungi for potential use in the bioremediation of polluted environments with chlorophenols G. R. Tortella Æ O. Rubilar Æ L. Gianfreda Æ E. Valenzuela Æ M. C. Diez Received: 1 April 2008 / Accepted: 1 July 2008 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008 Abstract This work presents a preliminary report of a series of studies on the ability of several indigenous wood-rotting fungi from Chile to produce hydrolytic and ligninolytic enzymes and the evaluation of these native microorganism to future research on potential applications in bioremediation programs. Wood-rotting Basidiomycete fungi were collected from indigenous hardwood forest in the South of Chile. Twenty-eight strains were identified and qualitative enzymatic tests for peroxidases, laccase, tyrosinase, xylanase and cellulase production were per- formed in solid medium. Eleven selected strains were evaluated in liquid medium to quantify their ligninolytic enzyme production and their capacity to grow in solid medium supplemented with 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCF), 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCF) and penta- chlorophenol (PCP). PCP degradation and ligninolytic enzymes production were also evaluated in liquid medium. Results showed that laccase was present in 28 of the selected strains (&73%). Peroxidase was present in 40% and cellulase in 37% of the strains. Xilanase and tyrosinase were obtained in a smaller percentage in the strains (28% and 7%, respectively). The 11 selected strains showed high concentrations of lignin peroxidase (Lip) and manganese peroxidase (MnP). Anthracophyllum discolor (Sp4), pro- duced LiP and MnP at 90.3 and MnP 125.5 U L -1 respectively, compared to the control fungus Phanero- chaete chrysosporium CECT-2798 that produced 58.1 and 118.4 U L -1 of LiP and MnP. Tolerance test showed that native Chilean fungi did not present high tolerance to 2,4,6- TCF and PCP but were quite tolerant to 25 and 50 mg L -1 of 2,4-DCF. However, pre-acclimatization in 2,4-DCP notably improved the growth in medium with 2,4,6-TCP and PCP. PCP in liquid medium was efficiently degraded by the fungi Anthracophyllum discolor, Lenzites betulina (Ru-30) and Galerina patago´nica (Sp3), and the major MnP activity was produced by A. discolor (Sp4) (67 U L -1 ). Keywords Screening Á Wood-rotting fungi Á Cellulolytic enzyme Á Ligninolytic enzyme Á Xylanolytic enzyme Á PCP degradation Introduction The wood-rooting fungi are the most important and efficient microorganisms involved in natural process of wood decom- position. This group plays an important ecological role and is widely distributed occurring in tropical and temperate envi- ronments in the world. Within this group, the species vary largely with regard to their relative cellulolytic versus G. R. Tortella Á O. Rubilar Á M. C. Diez (&) Depto de Ingenierı ´a Quı ´mica, Universidad de La Frontera, Casilla 54-D, Francisco Salazar, 01145 Temuco, Chile e-mail: mcdiez@ufro.cl G. R. Tortella e-mail: gtortell@ufro.cl O. Rubilar e-mail: orubilar@ufro.cl L. Gianfreda Dipartimento di Scienze del Suolo, della Pianta e dell’Ambiente, ed delle Produzioni Animali, Universita ` di Napoli Federico II, Portici, Napoli, Italy e-mail: gianfred@unina.it E. Valenzuela Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Microbiologı ´a, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile e-mail: evalenzu@uach.cl 123 World J Microbiol Biotechnol DOI 10.1007/s11274-008-9810-7