Dyes are used in many industries, like paper printing or textile. They are often recalcitrant to degradation and in some cases, like some azo dyes, carcinogenic or otherwise toxic.
The mechanism by which the fungi degrade dyes is via their lignolytic enzymes, especially laccase, therefore white rot mushrooms are the most commonly used.
Mycoremediation has proven to be a cheap and effective remediation technology for dyes such as malachite green, nigrosin and basic fuchsin with Aspergillus niger and Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Congo red, a carcinogenic dye recalcitrant to biodegradative processes, direct blue 14 (using Pleurotus).