MITIGATION OF THE TOXIC EFFECTS OF XENOBIOTICS IN MUNG SEEDLINGS BY PLANT SYNERGISTIC BACTERIA

Abstract

In today’s world, the problems due to the rising pollution are inevitable. A major contributor to this pollution is due to the effluents released by textile industries, chemical factories and others. They adversely affect the agricultural lands nearby leading to the accumulation of xenobiotics and heavy metals in the soil followed by barrenness. A great amount of effort had directed towards the exploration of remedial approach by various workers. Employing the indigenous microbes with degradative capabilities in situ had been a solution to it. Engineering of microbes is the latest trend for degrading a vast spectrum of compounds. The present study aims to isolate bacteria capable of degrading Phenol, Hexane, Toluene and Xylene to test their synergism with the test plant, Vigna radiata. We collected our soil sample from petroleum station. Three-gram negative bacteria (Proteus sp., Pseudomonas sp and Aeromonas sp) and two-gram positive bacteria (Enterococcus sp and Streptococcus sp) were isolated and identified with test compound degradative potential. They were further used to assess their synergism with the study plant by employing hydroponics technique at 100 ppm concentration of test compound. StreptococcusspandProteusspgave a promising result followed by Enterococcus sp. The seedlings experienced a negative inhibitory effect with Aeromonas sp and Pseudomonas sp.