This mold eats a toxic dye and leaves safer leftovers
Chen Y, Zhang Y, Gong S, Zhao F, Zhou M
Phytoremediation
The dye behind fish-tank fungus treatments and cheap textile colors is a persistent pollutant, and a common mold offers a cheap, natural way to clean it out of contaminated water before it reaches soil or streams.
Malachite green is a bright dye that's also used to kill parasites on farmed fish, but it lingers in water and soil and can harm living things long after it's used. Researchers found a mold called Penicillium citrinum that soaks up the dye with its thread-like body, then uses an enzyme called laccase to chop it into smaller, much less toxic pieces. By fine-tuning the mold's food and growing conditions, they got it to completely clear the dye from water in just five days.
Key Findings
Optimized growth conditions (starch, peptone, specific minerals, pH 6.4, 28°C) allowed Penicillium citrinum strain YR02 to achieve 100% decolorization of malachite green within 120 hours
The fungus first absorbs the dye onto its hyphae forming pigmented pellets, then breaks it down primarily via laccase enzyme activity
GC-MS and LC-MS identified key breakdown products (4-dimethylaminobenzophenone, Michler's ketone, dimethylaminobenzoic acid) that were significantly less toxic to plants than the original dye
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found a fungus that can completely break down malachite green, a toxic dye and pesticide used in fish farming and textiles, turning it into far less harmful byproducts within five days.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Optimization of decolorization conditions and degradation pathway of malachite green by Penicillium citrinum strain YR02.
Malachite green (MG), a widely used biocide and dye, requires effective remediation due to its pronounced toxicity and environmental persistence. This study investigated MG decolorization by Penici...
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