Performance of Fusarium oxysporum EKT01/02 isolate in cyanide biodegradation system

This study reports a cyanide resistant and/or tolerant fungus, isolated from the rhizosphere of Zea mays contaminated with cyanide-based pesticides. The isolate was characterised using molecular biology. The effect of free cyanide and heavy metals on the growth of isolate in a synthetic gold mine wastewater was examined. The molecular analyses identified the isolate as Fusarium oxysporum EKT01/02 (KU985430/KU985431). The isolate had a free cyanide degradation efficiency of 77.6%. The results indicated greater growth impairment in culture containing Arsenic (optical density 1.28 and 1.458) and cyanide (optical density 1.315 and 1.385). Higher growth was observed in all cultures supplemented with extracellular polymeric substance. This study showed that the isolate possesses wide substrate utilisation mechanism that could be deployed in environmental engineering applications.