Isolation and Identification of Fungus Isolated Neosartorya sp. as Congo Red Biosorbent

Azo dyes are a group of hardly degradable dyes characterized by existence of azo group in their structure. The purpose of present study is the isolation of capable fungi for azo dyes biosorption. Fungi strains isolation was performed by enrichment method. The ability of selected fungal isolate in bio-decolorization was examined using different concentrations of dye. The best dye removal with a rate of 90% at concentration of 1000 mg/l was achieved after 5 days. This fungal isolate is capable to grow in 100 g/L NaCl. Molecular identification revealed 99% similarity to Neosartorya fischeri. Investigation of dye desorption showed that acetone is the best solvent for desorption. It is worth mentioning that, this strain has high ability for biosorption of dyes from textile wastewater. To our knowledge, this is the first report regarding the biosorption potential of Neosartorya sp., and it can be a potent biological agent for treatment of textile effluent.