The ability of Paraconiothyrium variabile, a laccase producing ascomycete recently isolated from soil, was studied to eliminate chlorophenol derivatives in submerged culture medium. Among the tested compounds, rho-chlorophenol (rho-CP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) were found to have minimum and maximum toxic effects, respectively, on the growth of the microorganism and at the same time high and low bioelimination percentages. The fungal strain was able to remove 86% of rho-CP (with initial concentration of 40 mg l(-1)) and 56% of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP; with same concentration as rho-CP) after 9 days of incubation while no elimination was observed in the presence of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) and PCP. Monitoring of laccase production level in the fermentation broth together with pollutant removal confirmed the key role of this copper-containing oxidase in chlorophenol derivatives elimination. The type of laccase inducer (guaiacol) and its final concentration (250 mu M) and also initial pH of the fermentation broth (pH = 5.5) in the elimination of rho-CP increased the final removal yield from 86% to 94.3%. (C) 2012 Elsevier ay. All rights reserved.