Identification of some fungal species involved in biodegradation of petroleum pollutants in Northwest of Iran

Black yeast fungi play critical role in degradation of petroleum polluted soils. Little attention has been paid to the biodiversity of black yeast fungi in Iran. In this paper، diversity of black yeast fungi was studied in petroleum polluted soils in Tabriz and Urmia regions. Soil samples were collected from petroleum polluted areas in vicinity of oil storage tanks in Tabriz and Urmia cities (East and West Azarbaijan provinces) in summer 2009. Isolation was carried out by using «floatation in mineral oil» method with minor modifications on Mycosel medium. In total، 38 isolates with melanized colonies were recovered and then purified using repeated streaking method. Fungal isolates were identified based on morphological charactersitics to species level as Exophiala heteromorpha، E. spinirera،E. xenobiotica، Cadophora malorum، Alternaria malorum، Cladosporium cladosporioides and Aureobasidium pullulans; of those Exophiala heteromorpha، E. pinifera،E. xenobiotica، urobasidium pullulans and Cadophora malorum represent new records for mycobiota of Iran and the rest are new reports from petroleum polluted soils in Iran.