Abstract

• Two different fungi were isolated from agricultural soil in Pathein Township. Both isolates were studied on the basis of morphological and microscopical characteristics. Pure cultures of fungal isolates were identified with the help of literature keys of Ando (2016). According to morphology and distinct characters, the two fungal strains were identified as Aspergillus sp. 1 and Aspergillus sp. 2. The two Aspergillus species were tested for their tolerance against heavy metals such as Cu2+ and Ni2+ ions at different concentration of 10 mM, 20 mM, 30 mM, 40 mM and 50 mM. It was observed that Aspergillus sp. 1 tolerance against Cu2+ ion and Aspergillus sp. 2 tolerance against Ni2+ ion. The ability of isolated fungal strains towards biosorption potential of metal ions from industrial wastewater sample were also studied. In this study, the adsorption efficiency of biomass was determined by using the functions of contact time and biomass dose. The biosorption capacity of Aspergillus sp. 1 reached 47.58 % removal of Cu2+ ion, while Aspergillus sp. 2 was expressed 39.04 % removal of Ni2+ ion. The finding revealed that fungi of two Aspergillus species showed higher metal-tolerant and biosorption capacity of copper and nickel ions from wastewater.