Survey of keratinophilic fungi in sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants of Mazandaran, Islamic Republic of Iran.

To isolate keratinophilic fungi in sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants in Sari city, Mazandaran province, Islamic Republic of Iran, samples were taken from 7 plants with different sewage treatment technologies. From 35 sludge samples cultured on Sabouraud's agar with cycloheximide and chloramphenicol, 326 fungal colonies belonging to 7 species were isolated. Geotrichum (59.5%), Cladosporium (13.8%), Alternaria (11.3%) and Penicillium (10.7%) species were the most prevalent. No growth of keratinophilic fungi was observed on this medium. However, using the hair-baiting technique, Microsporum gypseum, Chrysosporium spp. and Geotrichum spp. were isolated.