Abstract:The metabolism of trans-chlordane was performed with the white-rot fungi species Phlebia lindtneri and Phlebia brevispora, which are capable of degrading polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin, heptachlor, DDT and dieldrin. At the end of 42 days of incubation, over 50% of trans-chlordane was degraded by the fungal treatments in pure cultures. Two fungi transformed trans-chlordane to at least eleven metabolites including a large amount of hydroxylated products such as 3-hydroxychlordane, chlordene chlorohydrin, heptachlor diol, dihydroxydihydrochlordene, mono- and dihydroxychlordene. P. lindtneri in particular can transform oxychlordane, a recalcitrant epoxide product of chlordane, into a hydroxylated product through substitution of chlorine atom by hydroxyl group. The present results indicate that trans-chlordane was transformed to several hydrophilic metabolites, and that hydroxylation reactions play an important role in the metabolism of trans-chlordane by selected Phlebia species.