Synthetic dyes are important chemical pollutants from various industries. This work developed an efficient and relatively simple continuous decolorization system rice hull-Schizophyllum sp. F17 under solid-state condition in a packed-bed bioreactor, for decolorizing Congo red. In the decolorization system, two decolorization mechanisms exist, one is decolorization by Schizophyllum sp. F17, the other is biosorption by rice hull. The decolorization efficiency was greatly affected by dye concentration and hydraulic retention time (HRT), which were quantificationally analyzed and optimized through response surface methodology (RSM). A 2(2) full factorial central composite design (CCD) was performed, and three second order polynomial models were generated to describe the effects of dye concentration and HRT on total decolorization (R(2) = 0.902), decolorization by Schizophyllum sp. F17 (R(2) = 0.866) and biosorption by rice hull (R(2) = 0.890). Response surface contour plots were constructed to show the individual and cumulative effects of dye concentration and HRT, and the optimum values. A maximum total decolorization 89.71% and maximum decolorization by Schizophyllum sp. F17 60.44% was achieved at dye concentration 142.63 mg/L, HRT41 h, and dye concentration 110.7 mg/L, HRT 29.4 h, respectively. Meanwhile, the role of manganese peroxidase (MnP) in the decolorizaion process was investigated. This study proved the feasibility of continuous mode for decolorizing synthetic dyes by white-rot fungi in solid-state fermentation bioreactors. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.