ISOLATION OF A STRAIN OF ASPERGILLUS NIGER, FROM DECAYING WOOD, CAPABLE OF DECOLONIZING THE DISTILLERY SPENT WASHS.C. KALE AND K. P. SHINDEAbstract In an attempt to search for distillery spent wash (DSW) decolorizing microorganisms, soil samples, deteriorating paints and decaying wood samples were subjected to isolation of bacteria (using nutrient agar), Yeasts (using 3 % malt agar) and Fungi (using Sabouraudâs Glucose Agar). In all 30 isolates were obtained. All isolates were screened primarily for their decolorizing ability of distillery spent wash by plate method using modified Sabouraudâs Glucose Agar (with various concentrations of spent wash, V/V). The isolate, designated as F2, was selected out during primary screening, was subjected to secondary screening by shake flask culture method. It was found that F2 isolate could grow in and decolorize the distillery spent wash at 1:10 dilution. The fungal culture, F2 isolate, was subjected to morphological and cultural characterization and was identified as a strain of Aspergillus niger gr. The identity of the culture was confirmed by referring to the Fungus Identification Service Center. |