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Abstract Globally, textile industries are one of the major sectors releasing dye pollutants. This is the first report on the positive correlation between toxicity and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of textile effluent along with the proposed pathway for enzymatic degradation of acid orange 10 using Geotrichum candidum within a very short stretch of time (18 h). Removal efficiency of this mycoremedial approach after 18 h in terms of chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, total suspended solids, salinity, color and dye concentration in the treated effluent reached to 98.5%, 56.3%,73.2%, 64%, 89% and 87% respectively. Also there was a decrease in pH of the treated effluent. FTIR analysis of the treated effluent confirmed biodegradation. The LCMS analysis showed the degradation of acid orange 10, which was confirmed by the formation of two biodegradation products, 7-oxo-8-iminonapthalene-1,3-disulfonate and nitrosobenzene, which subsequently undergoes stepwise hydrogenation and dehydration to form aniline via phenyl hydroxyl amine as intermediate. The X-ray diffraction studies showed that heavy metal content in the treated effluent has reduced along with decrease in % crystallinity, indicating biodegradation. The connection between toxicity and COD was also inveterated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Further the toxicological studies indicated the toxicity of raw textile effluent and relatively lower toxic nature of metabolites generated after biodegradation by G. candidum.

Altruistic behavior in humans is thought to have deep biological roots. Nonetheless, there is also evidence for considerable variation in altruistic behaviors among individuals and across cultures. Variability in altruistic behavior in adults has recently been related to individual differences in emotional responsiveness to fear in others. The current study examined the relation between emotional responsiveness (using eye-tracking) and altruistic behavior (using the Dictator Game) in 4 to 5-year-old children (N = 96) across cultures (India and Germany). The results revealed that increased altruistic behavior was associated with a greater responsiveness to fear faces (faster fixation), but not happy faces, in both cultures. This suggests that altruistic behavior is linked to our responsiveness to others in distress across cultures. Additionally, only among Indian children greater altruistic behavior was associated with greater sensitivity to context when responding to fearful faces. These findings further our understanding of the origins of altruism in humans by highlighting the importance of emotional processes and cultural context in the development of altruism.