Decoloration and degradation of Congo red by basidiomycete fungi Termitomyces sp. was evaluated in this study using fungal biomass as adsorbent. Potential isolate TMS 7 Termitomyces sp. isolated from Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu and their biomass production was optimized using four different media. Decoloration study was conducted using different quantity of fungal biomass (0.5-3.5 g) to decolorize different concentration of Congo red (25-250 mg/L) and degradation of congo red was evaluated by using FT-IR. Fungal biomass production was optimized using four different media i.e. Potato Dextrose Agar, Malt Extract agar, Modified Melin Nokrans and Pridham-Gottlieb Modified by Kueti (PGK) and malt extract media recorded maximum growth than other three. Results of decoloration study reveal that least dye concentration (25 mg/L) was degraded up to 99.9 per cent by 0.5-3.5 g fungal biomass and highest dye concentration (250 (mg/L) was decolored to the extent of 55.2% by high fungal biomass of

Azo dye-Congo red- Termitomyces sp.- degradation-FTIR.

In the present investigation an attempt was made to degrade and decolorize the mostly used textile dye Congo red by white rot fungus Termitomyces sp. complete and partial decolorization was observed in 50 to 250 mg/ 100 ml dye concentration and also degraded products were recorded by FT-IR analysis. Reason behind degradation might be due to the enzyme such as cellobiose dehydrogenase, xylanase and other lignocellulosic enzymes exudated by the fungus. Degraded products were adsorbed with the cell wall material of fungus and there is a strong degradation in the azo bond (azide) also observed. The results indicate that bio sorption and biodegradation of azo dye by Termitomyces sp. could be a potential application in the bioremediation of textile effluents containing azo dyes and other toxic compounds with some parameter (pH, temperature, quantity of biomass, organic adsorbents etc.) optimization according to the dye concentration. This investigation gives insight about the azo dye degrad

Jackson, K. M., and Gomathi, V. (2021). Effect of Termitomyces sp. on Decolorization and Degradation of Congo Red (CR). Biological Forum – An International Journal, 13(2): 374-380.