Research work was carried out to assess the capacity of strains of fungi isolated from raw textile and partially treated effluent, discharge point, up and down Stream of Challawa River to resist and grow in the presence of Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu) and Zinc (Zn) invitro. Fungi belonging to the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, Chrysosporium, Microsporum , Trichoderma and Rhizopus species were isolated from the study sites and were screened to access their capacity to tolerate and resist chromium, copper and zinc at concentrations of 20 and 30ppm by inoculating each of them into duplicate flasks containing 50ml of potato dextrose broth (PDB) supplemented with 20 and 30ppm of Cr, Cu and Zn. A control was also set up by inoculating each of the isolate into the same medium without the heavy metals. All inoculated flasks were aerobically incubated at 28oC on a rotator shaker for 7days. Chrysosporium sp had the highest tolerance index of 0.445 (zinc) which was closely followed by Aspergillus niger with a tolerance index of 0.325 (chromium) while Trichoderma sp had the least tolerance index of 0.153 (zinc). The ability of fungi to tolerate and resist heavy metals present in textile effluent further prove the fact that filamentous fungi (molds) could serve as good candidate organisms for bioremediation processes in the removal of heavy metals from sites contaminated with industrial effluent containing heavy metals.

Keywords: Fungi, Textile effluent, Heavy metals, Resistance, Tolerance and Bioremediation