Fungal peroxidase production and use in wastewater treatment

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Peroxidase enzymes have been shown to catalyze the removal of a wide range of aromatic compounds that commonly occur in industrial wastewater streams.  The majority of these aromatic compounds are classified as toxic, some are endocrine disrupting compounds, and some are known or suspected carcinogens.  The enzymatic process would facilitate compliance with increasingly stringent discharge standards in cases where effluent requirements cannot be met consistently and cost effectively using conventional treatment.  Enzymatic methods could be applied separately or in conjunction with conventional treatment methods such as physical, chemical, and biological processes. Unfortunately, peroxidase enzymes are susceptible to inactivation from a number of sources and therefore must be supplied continuously to the process.  The current cost of peroxidase enzymes is relatively high because they are produced in highly purified form and in relatively small quantities for predominantly analytical purposes.  Extra-cellular enzymes require far less processing to achieve commercially useful forms than do intra-cellular enzymes such as Horseradish peroxidase (HRP).  This has prompted investigation of peroxidase enzymes such as Arthromyces ramosus peroxidase and Coprinus cinereus peroxidase (among others) that are produced extra-cellularly by fungi.   The proposed research will be conducted in the following three phases: (1) Optimizing peroxidase production by Coprinus species fungi in a sequencing batch or continuous flow reactor using a low cost growth medium; (2) Establishing reactor design and operating recommendations for the removal of phenols and endocrine disrupting compounds by the harvested enzymatic solutions; and (3) Assessing the use of selected fungi as a biological treatment method for the removal of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDC) from settled secondary municipal effluent.