Biodegradation of Crude Oil by Wood-habiting Ascomycetes and Leaf-habiting Deturomycetes

Abstract

Leaf-wood habitat aquatic fungi play a significant role in the degradation of oil spills in the sea. Oil hydrocarbons with high molecular weight are hydrophobic. Their ordinary degradation in aquatic mediums is not easily possible but thanks to the activity of surfactant producing fungi they have become hydrophilic agents and are degraded. Therefore, using such fungi can help us to eliminate oil pollutants. For this reason the possibility of degrading crude oil with eleven aquatic fungi species from the Ascomycetes and Deutromycete s in oil liquid medium culture under in vitro conditions was examined. There was high correlation between the increase of growth of mycelium fungi and the change of pH in the light and heavy crude culture medium.