Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology J Chem Technol Biotechnol 83:1190–1196 (2008) Aerobic degradation by white-rot fungi of trichloroethylene (TCE) and mixtures of TCE and perchloroethylene (PCE) Ernest Marco-Urrea, 1 Xavier Gabarrell, 1 Gloria Caminal, 2∗ Teresa Vicent 1 and C Adinarayana Reddy 3 1 Departament d’Enginyeria Qu´ ımica and Institut de Ci ` encia i Tecnologia Ambiental, Escola T ` ecnica Superior d’Enginyeria. Universitat Aut ` onoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain 2 Unitat de Biocat ` alisis Aplicada associada al IIQAB (CSIC-UAB). Escola T ` ecnica Superior d’Enginyeria. UAB. 08193 Bellaterra, Spain 3 Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and the NSF Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-4320, USA Abstract BACKGROUND: Trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) are considered among the most important groundwater pollutants around the world. These compounds are usually found together in polluted environments but little is known about the ability of microorganisms to simultaneously degrade TCE and PCE. RESULTS: Data showed that several species of white-rot fungi, including Trametes versicolor, Ganoderma lucidum, and Irpex lacteus, degrade substantial levels of TCE in pure culture. T. versicolor was chosen for further study since it degraded higher levels of TCE than the other organisms. Initial glucose concentration and reoxygenation of samples increased the amount of TCE dechlorination, but no significant difference in percentage TCE degradation was observed. T. versicolor was able to degrade 34.1 and 47.7% of PCE and TCE added as mixtures (containing 5 and 10 mg L -1 , respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The degradation ability of TCE was extended to other species of white-rot fungi. Percentage degradation as well as chloride release from mixtures of TCE and PCE showed that T. versicolor degrades mixtures of TCE and PCE almost as well as its ability to degrade individually added TCE or PCE. The results suggest the potential promise of T. versicolor for bioremediation of TCE and PCE in the environment.  2008 Society of Chemical Industry Keywords: trichloroethylene; perchloroethylene; white-rot fungus; biodegradation; Trametes versicolor INTRODUCTION Trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (also called tetrachloroethylene) are chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAH) which have been widely used in industrial cleaning solutions. TCE and perchloroethy- lene (PCE) are ranked 16 and 31, respectively, on the EPA 2005 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA; com- monly known as Superfund) priority list for hazardous substances. Most studies to date have focused on degradation of TCE and PCE by individual bacteria or consortia. Selected halorespiring anaerobic bacteria, which are able to gain energy from reductive dehalogenation, and facultative anaerobes catalyze sequential reductive dechlorination of PCE and TCE to less chlorinated ethenes. However, in many of the studies on contaminated groundwater systems, these compounds were shown to undergo incomplete dehalogenation to dichloroethene and vinyl chloride, which is a known carcinogen and is considered to be more toxic than its precursors. 1 Dehalococcoides ethenogenes strain 195 has been known to degrade PCE by reductive dehalogenation to the non-toxic compound ethene 2 and only one bacterium has been reported to degrade PCE aerobically. 3 Aerobic degradation of TCE by different bacteria was shown to result in the formation of a range of intermediates such as chloral, formate, glyoxalate, dichloroacetate, and CO. 4 Different oxygenases play key roles in TCE oxidation under aerobic conditions and some of these are induced in the presence of compounds such as methane, toluene or phenol. 5–7 In comparison with the wealth of information on bacterial degradation of TCE, there is little published information on TCE degradation by fungi. White-rot fungi, believed to be the most effective lignin-degrading microbes in nature, produce three ∗ Correspondence to: Gloria Caminal, Unitat de Biocat ` alisis Aplicada associada al IIQAB (CSIC-UAB). Escola T ` ecnica Superior d’Enginyeria. UAB. 08193 Bellaterra, Spain E-mail: gloria.caminal@uab.es (Received 18 October 2007; revised version received 3 January 2008; accepted 15 January 2008) Published online 28 March 2008; DOI: 10.1002/jctb.1914  2008 Society of Chemical Industry. J Chem Technol Biotechnol 0268–2575/2008/$30.00