Formaldehyde is widely used in chemical
manufacturing industry and classified as a human carcinogen.
Discharging wastewater containing formaldehyde
without treatment can cause serious risk to the water
environment. In this study, a formaldehyde-resistant fungal
strain was isolated from sewerage of a furniture factory.
Isolate strain was identified based on the morphological
and phylogenetic analyses. Formaldehyde-degrading fungus
was determined by characterizing the mycelia growth
in culture media, formaldehyde-resistant, formaldehydedegrading
efficiencies, and specific enzyme activity
involved in formaldehyde removal. Isolate strain HUA was
identified as a member of
Aspergillus sydowii
. The strain
HUA showed a growth in the presence of formaldehyde up
to 2,400 mg l
-1 at an optimum temperature of 25 °C and
optimum pH of 7. The specific activity of formaldehyde
dehydrogenase and formate dehydrogenase could reach up
to 5.02 and 1.06 U mg
-1, respectively. It indicated that
isolated formaldehyde-resistant
A. sydowii HUA strain
would be potential used for removing formaldehyde from
industrial wastewater.
