Abstract
Endosulfan has emerged as a major environmental menace worldwide due to extensive usage and environmental persistence, seeking its remedial by a cheaper and efficient means. Therefore, natural resource (soil) was explored to search a potential candidate for biodegradation of endosulfan. A soil bacterium was enriched and isolated by applying a strong nutritional selection pressure, using a non-sulfur medium supplemented with endosulfan as sole source sulfur. The microbial strain was found to degrade endosulfan as well as its equally toxic metabolite endosulfan sulfate to non-toxic metabolites (endodiol and endosulfan lactone) very efficiently (up to 94.2 %) within 7 days, estimated qualitatively by thin layer chromatography and quantitatively by gas chromatography-electron capture detection methods. The isolate was characterized for its morphological, physiological, biochemical and 16S rRNA sequencing and identified as a new strain of Bacillus subtilis with strain designation AKPJ04, which was deposited with accession number Microbial Type Culture Collection and Gene Bank (MTCC) 8561, at MTCC, Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, India. The partial 16S rRNA sequence was submitted to Genbank, Maryland, USA, with the accession number EU 258611. The primary investigation for endosulfan degrading gene(s) localization suggested its location on chromosomal DNA.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13205-013-0176-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
With the advent of Green Revolution, use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides has increased at an uncontrolled pace to meet the demands of ever-growing human population
After Gas chromatograph (GC)-separation and Electron capture detector (ECD) analysis, it was found that 8.65 ppm of a-endosulfan, 5.85 ppm of b-endosulfan and 2.98 ppm of endosulfan sulfate remained in the N2-culture system, accounting for about 71.0 % degradation after 3 days of incubation, as compared to 24.82 ppm of aendosulfan, 15.81 ppm of b-endosulfan and 6.42 ppm of endosulfan sulfate detected in the control sample accounting for 18.74 % abiological degradation
After 7 days of incubation, the degradation of endosulfan in N2culture system was found to be 94.0 % with 1.79 ppm of aendosulfan, 1.21 ppm of b-endosulfan and 0.32 ppm of endosulfan sulfate detected by Gas Chromatography-Electron Capture Detection (GC-ECD) as compared to 23.93 ppm of a-endosulfan, 14.78 ppm of b-endosulfan and 6.98 ppm of endosulfan sulfate detected in the control sample that accounts for 22.58 % abiological degradation (Table 2)
Summary
With the advent of Green Revolution, use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides has increased at an uncontrolled pace to meet the demands of ever-growing human population. Endosulfan is one of the extensively used organochlorine pesticides after the worldwide ban on DDT and BHC. Use of endosulfan has increased dramatically in last three decades. It is used extensively worldwide as a contact and stomach insecticide for Colorado potato beetle, flea beetle, cabbageworm, peach tree borer, tarnished plant bug and as an acaricide on field crop like cotton, paddy, sorghum, oilseeds and coffee (Lee et al 1995; Kullman and Matsumura 1996; USEPA 2002), apart from its use in vector-control (tsetse fly), as a wood preservative and for the control of home garden pests (C.N.R.C 1975). It is a highly toxic substance and is classified as a Category 1b (highly hazardous) pesticide by USEPA (2002)
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