NAPHTHALENE AND PHENANTHRENE BIODEGRADATION BY ANTARCTIC SOIL - ISOLATED ASPERGILLUS FUMIGATUS STRAINS

This article describes the experiments with the two investigated fungal strains isolated from soils on Livingston Island, Antarctica. Our studies by gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC - MS) analyses showed the ability degree of the strains to degrade low molecular weight polyaromatic compounds such as naphthalene and phenanthrene. The different degradation capacity of both strains towards each one of the compounds studied was established. The amount of naphthalene in the medium decreased by 44 % during the 9 days cultivation of Aspergillus fumigatus AL3, while it decreased by 37 % when grown in a medium inoculated with Aspergillus fumigatus AL9. The strain A. fumigatus AL3 was able to reduce the phenanthrene amount in the medium by 44.5 %, whereas A. fumigatus AL9 reduced it by a significant 90.5 % under the same conditions and the same period. Some of the intermediates, suchas naphthalene - 1, 2 - diol, 2 - hydroxybenzaldehyde, 2 - hydroxybenzoic acid, naphthalene - 1 - ol, benzene - 1, 2 - dicarboxylic acid, and benzene - 1, 2 - diol, in the catabolite chain of both compounds were also identified. They are typical for the biodegradation of the investigated compounds also with the help of other types of microorganisms.