Applied Journal of Hygiene 3 (1): 01-10, 2014
ISSN 2309-8910
© IDOSI Publications, 2014
DOI: 10.5829/idosi.ajh.2014.3.1.8169
Toxic Effects of Pesticide Pollution and its Biological
Control by Microorganisms: A Review
S. Kavi Karunya and P. Saranraj
Department of Microbiology, Annamalai University,
Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram, 608 002, India
Abstract: Environment preservation is one of the aims of the sustainable development. Environmental pollution
has increased in many regions due to industrialization. Pesticides, herbicides and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs)
are widely distributed in the environment. In recent years, pesticides, herbicides and PCBs have been detected
in aquatic systems in India. This present review was focused on toxic effects of pesticide pollution and its
biological control by microorganisms. The term "pesticide" covers a wide range of compounds including
insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, molluscacides, nematocides, plant growth regulators and
others. Thus far, more than 1000 active substances have been incorporated in the approximately 35,000
preparations, which are known as pesticides. Insecticides represent the greatest proportion of pesticides used
in developing countries, whereas herbicide sales have been greater than those of other pesticides in
industrialized countries. Pesticide biodegradation is a ubiquitous environmental process. Pesticide
biodegradation has been documented in a wide range of habitats, including soils, sediments, surface and
ground water and sewage sludges etc. The ubiquity of pesticide degradation suggests that bioremediation
strategies can play an important role in the treatment of pesticide wastes.
Key words: Pesticides
Toxic Effects
Microorganisms and Bioremediation
INTRODUCTION
among the toxicants in India are organochlorine and
organophosphorus pesticides. For the past several
decades, organochlorine pesticides have been widely
used for both agricultural and public health purposes, but
there is always a tendency to use them in excess.
Microorganisms are important in maintaining soil fertility
and are also important agents which detoxify pesticides in
soil. Thus chemicals which seriously affect the soil
microflora may harm soil fertility and crop production [5].
In recent years, plant protection has become one of
the essential inputs in crop production. In the context of
changing cropping patterns, introduction of high yielding
varieties, application of high doses of fertilizers, with
enhanced irrigation facilities, pests have assumed a
special significance and more and more pesticides are
being applied. Large complex of insect pests ranging
from borers to root feeding insects are responsible for
heavy losses of commercial crops, both quantitatively
and qualitatively. In order to reap maximum yields, the
farmers resort to pesticide application to combat the pest
problem.
India is an agriculture based country. About 60-70%
of its population is dependent on agriculture. A huge
portion of arable land already under cultivation is being
rapidly depleted by industries and urban encroachments.
On the other hand, the demand for agricultural crops is
increasing day by day due to the rapidly increasing
population. Hence, there is a need for a huge increase in
the quantity of agricultural produce as well as
improvement in its quality. To meet these objectives;
agrochemicals like insecticides, fungicides, pesticides and
herbicides and also; use of better quality seeds are being
used on a large scale in agricultural lands. About 30% of
agricultural produce is lost due to pests. Hence, the use
of pesticides has become indispensable in agriculture [1].
In India, alarming levels of pesticides have been
reported in air, water, soil as well as in foods and
biological materials [2]. Some of these pesticides have
also been reported to be toxic [3], mutagenic, carcinogenic
and tumorogenic [4]. The most important pollutants
Corresponding Author:
Kavi Karunya, Department of Microbiology, Annamalai University,
Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram, 608 002, India.
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Appl. J. Hygiene 3 (1): 01-10, 2014
Early History of Pesticides in India: Agriculture is the
back bone of world economy and in India about 60% of
the population depends on agriculture as their only
occupation. One of the consequences of technological
progress in agricultural revolution has been the release of
large number of chemicals into the environment. Although
a variety of alternative pest control methods are available
in recent years, use of chemical pesticides, insecticides
and fungicides is still the mainstay in modern agricultural
practice.
Use of pesticides in India began in 1948 when DDT
was imported for malaria control and benzene hexachloride
(BHC) for locust control. India started pesticide
production with manufacturing plant for DDT and BHC in
1952. In 1958, India was producing over 5000 metric
tonnes of pesticides. General agricultural use of pesticides
carries with it potential hazards to man and directly by
exposure to toxic residues in food and indirectly to the
environment [14]. The pesticide residues were found to
cause impairment in reproductive system and thyroid
activity in aquatic fauna, fish [15] and in birds [16].
During the usage of pesticide, significant reduction in soil
fertility was also noticed [17, 18]. In this regard, it is
necessary to study the effect on soil microflora
especially the pesticide utilizing capacity of
microorganisms. The usage of microbial responses as an
indicator of herbicide toxicity and viable bacterial counts
were used as the parameters to assess herbicide toxicity
in cotton soil in Southwest part of India has been
documented [19].
Increase in the consumption of pesticide is likely to
be at least two to three times more in the years to come.
However, there has been a considerable qualitative and
quantitative change in pesticide use in the last few years
worldwide and in India as well. Chlorinated compounds
and carbamates are being phased out, while
organophosphorus pesticides are becoming the major
backbone for pest control. The consumption of technical
grade pesticides in India during 2000-2001 was 43,580 MT
[6]. Among the insecticides, monocrotophos, quinalphos
and chlorpyriphos top the list of organophosphorus
insecticides in the Indian market. The estimated
consumption of technical grade chlorpyriphos in India
during 2002-03 was 5,000 MT [6].
Although some persistent organochlorine pesticides
have been banned from agricultural and public health use
during the past few decades, high concentrations of
pesticides and its metabolites have been found in soil,
water and sediment samples [7, 8]. Furthermore, other
insecticides, such as endosulfan and lindane, are
currently in use throughout the world [9] and their
presence in air, water and soil is a problem of great
concern. Reducing their levels in the environment has
therefore become an important goal.
Microbial degradation of pesticides applied to soil is
the principle mechanism which prevents the accumulation
of these chemicals in the environment. Yet, when
pesticides are degraded too rapidly, pest control may be
less effective. One factor that has been shown to increase
the rate of microbial degradation of pesticides in soil is
one or more previous
applications of the same
pesticide or another pesticide with a similar chemical
structure. This phenomenon is known as accelerated or
enhanced degradation [10] and can result in economic
losses to farmers.
Insecticides and their
degradation
products,
generally get accumulated in the top soil and
influence not only the population of various groups
of soil microbes but also their biochemical activities
like nitrification, ammonification, decomposition of
organic matter and nitrogen fixation
[11].
Microorganisms play an important role in degrading
synthetic chemicals in soil [12]. They have the
capacity to utilize virtually all naturally and
synthetically occurring compounds as their sole
carbon and energy source. The metabolism of
chlorpyriphos by microorganisms in soil has been
reported [13] with 3, 5, 6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP) as the
primary breakdown product. Use of pesticide degrading
microbial systems for bioremediation, thus, receives
attention because of its cost effectiveness and
ecofriendly nature.
Pesticides Scenario in India: Pesticides constitute the
key control strategy for crop pests and disease
management and have been making significant
contribution towards improving the crop yields per
hectare. The Indian pesticide industry is the fourth largest
in the world and second in the Asia Pacific region after
China. At present, a total of 145 technical pesticides have
been registered in the country, of which 93 technical
grade pesticides are being manufactured indigenously.
According to the Ministry of Chemicals and
Fertilizers, the production
of technical
grade
pesticides in the country was 80,359 tonnes in 2001-2002
[6]. At present, the chemical pesticides consumption is
the highest in Andhra Pradesh (33%), followed by Punjab
(14%) and Karnataka (11%). The consumption of chemical
pesticides, in India was 43,580 tonnes in 2000-2001 [20].
Of the total chemical pesticides consumed, cotton
accounts for the maximum consumption of 45 per cent,
rice 22 per cent, vegetables 9 per cent, plantations 7 per
cent, pulses 4 per cent, wheat 4 per cent and other crops
9 per cent [6].
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Appl. J. Hygiene 3 (1): 01-10, 2014
In India, insecticides account for 52 per cent of the
total consumption of chemical pesticides, herbicides 33
per cent and fungicides 15 per cent. The average world
consumption comprises 25 per cent insecticides, 49 per
cent herbicides and 22 per cent fungicides. As far as, the
chemical nature of products is concerned, the market
comprises 16 per cent organochlorines, 50 per cent
organophosphates, 4 per cent carbamates, 19 per cent
synthetic pyrethroids,1 per cent biopesticides and 10 per
cent others. The world consumption pattern, on the other
hand, is 6 per cent organochlorines, 37 per cent
organophosphates, 23 per cent carbamates, 22 per cent
synthetic pyrethroids and 12 per cent others [21].
However, over anxiety of farmers and lack of full
knowledge has led to indiscriminate use of these
pesticides, causing short and long-term health effects.
The wide spread use of these pesticides over the years
has resulted in problems caused by their interaction with
the
biological systems in the environment.
Notwithstanding the hazards, pesticides will continue to
be an indispensable tool for the management of pests in
the years to come, as there is no suitable alternative to
totally replace them.
Pesticide leaching to groundwater represents a severe
problem especially in cases where groundwater is a
drinking water source due to the very low potential for
microbial pesticide degradation of such surface and
groundwater sources [28]. Several pesticides, e.g., the
phenylurea herbicide isoproturon (IPU) already can be
found in groundwater and some reports [29] have
documented isoproturon concentrations exceeding the
critical approved values for drinking water (0.1 lg l 1).
Furthermore, they also determined isoproturon presence
in the leaching water below 2-meter deep outdoor
lysimeters [30] at concentrations 40 to 50 fold above the
approved European threshold for drinking water (0.1 l g
l 1).
Both success and failure have been reported when
species capable of degrading pesticides in liquid culture
were introduced into the soil. A strain of Streptomyces
was able to grow on eight pesticides and also degraded
them in soil [31]. Similar results were obtained when an
iprodione degrading Arthrobacter strain was inoculated
in to the soil. Several chemicals have been successfully
removed from soil and aquatic environments using
degrading microorganisms such as chlorinated pyridinol
[32], coumaphos [33] and atrazine [34]. In contrast, Mac
Rae and Alexander [35] reported the failure of a 4-(2,4dichlorophenoxy) butyrate utilizing bacteria to degrade
the chemical when introduced into a treated soil. Holden
and Firestone [36] and Vidali [37] suggested that the
success of bioaugmentation depends on a number of soil
physico-chemical factors such as pH, organic matter,
moisture, temperature and nutrient status.
Comeau et al. [38] suggested that 106 - 108 cells g 1
soil was the recommendable inoculum level to use for the
decontamination of pesticide contaminated sites.
However, in a similar study, Kontchou and Gschwind [39]
reported that a Pseudomonas sp. was less successful in
degrading atrazine in soil with lower pH and higher
organic matter. Similar results were obtained for
ethoprophos bioremediation
by Pseudomonas sp.
By Karpouzas and Walker, [40]. In field bioaugmentation
studies, Barles et al. [41] found that the addition of
organic amendments like rice-straw at the time of soil
inoculation extended the survival and activity of
parathion degrading bacteria in the soil.
Struthers et al. [42] found that inoculum levels of an
Agrobacterium strain as low as 105 cells g 1 are adequate
to rapidly degrade atrazine. They concluded that a
specific bacterium could be an effective bioagumentation
agent due to its constitutive expression of degrading
enzymes and its broad spectrum of activity against a
variety of triazine herbicides. Pesticide concentration has
been suggested as another reason for bioagumentation
Pesticides Contamination in Environment: Pesticides are
used in controlling crop pests to minimize losses of
agricultural products and control insect vectors to
prevent the outbreak of human and animal epidemics.
Food shortages have resulted in increasing use of
insecticides in agriculture. In India, almost 30% of
agricultural output is lost because of pest infestation and
pesticide consumption for protecting crops accounts
for about 3% of the total world consumption [22].
However, pesticide residues can adversely affect human
health and also cause environmental pollution.
Worldwide unintentional overexposure results in
43x106 cases of pesticide poisoning annually. Excessive
pesticide use has also created global problems of pest
resistance, resurgence and pesticide residues in crops and
soil [23]. However, pesticides continue to play an
important role in controlling economically harmful
populations of insects. Many believe that this conflict is
one of the most critical current problems requiring to be
tackled nowadays. There is a large number of pesticides
currently in use, with a wide range of physico-chemical
properties and amounts of the bound chemicals can
frequently be recovered by increasing the time or
intensity of extraction [24]. Different types of extraction
procedures, such as supercritical fluid extraction [25], high
temperature distillation techniques, microwave extraction
[26] and silylisation prior to extraction [27] can perform
differently than conventional Soxhlet procedures.
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Appl. J. Hygiene 3 (1): 01-10, 2014
failure. Moorman et al. [43] reported rapid degradation
of atrazine and metolachlor in organic amended soils.
Similar results were obtained by Mishra et al. [44] for the
bioremediation of oil-contaminated soil by inoculation of
degrading consortium and nutrient materials. Inoculum
size has been identified as a possible reason for the failure
of inoculation of contaminated sites with species able to
degrade pesticide in cultures.
The biological availability of soil contaminants, such as
pesticides, is determined by their fate in the environment,
which is directly influenced by soil processes. The soil
processes themselves are greatly affected by physical and
chemical properties of mils and soil contaminants.
The sorptive behavior of chlorpyriphos and its major
metabolites in aqueous, soil or sediment systems were
extensively investigated. For chlorpyriphos, adsorption
kd values ranged from as low as 13.4 ml/g to as high as
1862.0 ml/g, while the TMP (3,5,6-trichloro-2methoxypyridine) metabolite of chlorpyriphos has an
affinity for sorption lower than that of chlorpyriphos
itself. The TCP (3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol) metabolite had
a moderate affinity for sorption. Sears and Chapman [45]
reported that 3 per cent of the chlorpyriphos applied to
turf plots was present in the 1 cm root zone of the soil and
less than 1 per cent moved to 2.5 cm of underlying soil
during a 56 day period of regular turf maintenance
irrigation. Agnihotri et al. [11] examined leaching and
lateral mobility of banded, granular material applied at 1.5
kg/ha to a sandy loam soil. During the growing season, no
lateral movement of chlorpyriphos from the band to a
sampling distance of 7.5 cm was noted and residues were
confined to the upper 15 cm of soil.
Schmimmel et al. [46] examined the fate of
chlorpyriphos in seawater in jars that were aerated and
maintained in laboratory. A half lie of less than 2 days was
observed and nearly 63 per cent had volatilized. Chapman
and Chapman [47] studied leaching and lateral mobility in
a muck soil. Granular chlorpyriphos at 1.68 kg/ha was
applied to simulate onion furrows in soil blocks
maintained in the laboratory. Soil column studies revealed
that chlorpyriphos was unable to leach significantly.
Wauchope et al. [48] examined chlorpyriphos mobility in
sprinkler irrigated fields of corn. Chlorpyriphos, when
applied at the rate of 0.56 kg ai/ha, the average residues in
the top 3 cm and 3-15 cm level of soil were 0.28 ppm and
0.05 ppm respectively.
Redondo et al. [49] conducted an environmental fate
study on the dissipation and distribution of chlorpyriphos
residues in citrus orchard soil. During a two month period,
the distribution through soil profile showed that the
pesticide concentration was always the highest in the
upper layer and the degradation half life was 10 days.
Kale et al. [50] carried out studies on degradation of
14
C-chlorpyriphos in the marine ecosystem. Rapid
degradation and very little (1-2%14C) residues of the
applied actively were detected after two months in
sediments. TCP was the major degradation product
formed under both moist and flooded conditions; its
formation being higher in the latter conditions.
Pesticides-Environmental Fate: Pesticides are often
applied directly to soil. They may also reach the soil
through application to foliage via spray drift, run-off, or
wash-off vectors. Pesticides in soil partition between at
least three phases: soi1 air, soil solution and soil sorbed.
Pesticides have therefore become integrated into
transport and degradation processes that characterize
soi1 ecosystems. Major factors influencing the fate of
pesticides in the environment are their volatility, sorption
ion mineral or organic matter, solubility and biological and
non-biological degradation. Pesticide biodegradation
involves a wide variety of microorganisms including
bacteria and fungi operating under dynamic anaerobic and
aerobic conditions. It was suggested that biodegradation
of pesticides in soil ecosystems can only take place
through the synergistic interactions of a microbial
consortium, the activity of which was affected by many
soil physical and chemical properties, as well as the nature
and extent of the pesticide contamination.
Many pesticides have proven resistant to microbial
biodegradation and therefore persist in the environments
in which they are found. Enhance biodegradation of
pesticides in agricultural soils and the ability of
microorganisms to adapt and rapidly catabolic some
pesticides have resulted in economically significant pest
control failures. This recognition of microbial degradation
as a primary means of degrading many pesticides in soil
ecosystems prompted the development of biodegradable
herbicides, insecticides and Fungicides in the mid 1970’s.
Ideally, these pesticides would persist only long enough
to complete their intended mission or benefit and then
degrade to harmless products. The fate and effects of
pesticides in mil, however, is extremely complicated.
An understanding of the soil processes affecting
pesticides is essential if methods for controlling pesticide
persistence and minimizing undesirable environmental
effects are to be found. This statement is true with respect
to the use of soil microorganisms to remediate soils
contaminated with organic pollutants. Conditions must be
favorable for growth and survival of pesticide-degrading
microorganisms. In addition, contaminants must be
accessible to microorganisms that degrade them.
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Appl. J. Hygiene 3 (1): 01-10, 2014
Konda and Pasztor [51] studied on the environmental
behavior, movement, distribution, persistence and run off
of chlorpyriphos under field conditions. At a depth of 520 cm, this was detectable during the whole experimental
interval of 5 months. Murray et al. [52] reported that
chlorpyriphos was relatively stable and has low water
solubility. At an initial soil concentration of 1000 mg kg 1
for termite control, the degradation rate of chlorpyriphos
was strongly retarded with average half life of 385 days,
when compared with soil concentration 100 and 10 mg
kg 1 with average half lives of 15 and 41 days
respectively. Nhan et al. [53] investigated on the
distribution and fate of 14C-chlorpyriphos in the tropical
estuarine environment and observed that it is rapidly
adsorbed onto sediment. The accumulation of
chlorpyriphos in flora and fauna attained, respectively a
maximum of 5.8 per cent and 2.2 per cent of the initial
activity observed at days 3 and 2 after application,
respectively.
Gamon et al. [54], in a study on distribution of
pesticide in a soil profile, observed that the pesticide is
always higher in the top soil. Menon et al. [55] conducted
an experiment on the dissipation of Chlorpyriphos at
environment friendly doses in the sandy loam and loamy
sand soils of two semiarid fields. It was found to be
moderately stable with half life of 19.3 and 16.4 days
respectively. 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol was the principal
breakdown product in soil. Finocchiaro et al. [56], in a
study on behavior of chlorpyriphos methyl in soil and
sediment, concluded that the insecticide had a greater
affinity for the sediment as opposed to the soils and the
adsorption process was irreversible and that the molecule
was particularly unstable at a basic pH.
contrast to that of the persistent organochlorine
pesticides, although the half-life at neutral pH may vary
from a few hours for dichlorvos to several weeks for
parathion. At the pH of slightly acidic soils (pH 4 to 5),
these half-lives will be extended many times. However,
constituents of soil and of river water may themselves
catalyze degradation.
Biological
Treatment
of
Pesticides
Using
Microorganisms: An application of large quantity of
agricultural pesticides in rural area is a common practice
in order to increase the productivity and yield, to protect
the agricultural crop from pests and prevent products lost
due to insect and bacterial contamination is a common
practice. Resistance and mutation of some pests to
chemicals are the causes of using larger quantity of
pesticide in the developing countries. According to the
rate of degradation of chemicals, pesticides can be
categorized as sensitive or tolerant to decomposition.
Their destruction might be occurred under exposing to the
normal atmospheric conditions or by biological activity of
the soil microorganisms such as Pseudomonas,
Flavobacterium,
Alcaligenes,
Rhadococcus,
Gliocladium, Trichoderma and penicillium. These
microorganisms use the pesticides as their carbon and
energy sources [57].
Agricultural pesticides are mostly artificial synthetic
compounds without any identical in the nature, they are
substantially tolerant towards degradation in natural
conditions. In many cases, stability of these pesticides to
the biological destruction arises from their insolubility in
water, as the microorganisms are incapable of decaying
such materials. Malathion, carbamate, pyrethriod,
diazinon, dichloropicolinic acid and phenylalkanbic are
sensitive pesticides to the hydrolytic activity of
microorganism enzymes. Extracellular enzymes of the
bacteria are capable of cleavage broad range of chemical
pesticides.
Apart from the natural structure of the pesticides,
their volatility and adsorption ability to the soil
compounds are also important factors affect sensitivity to
the biological cleavage. These factors themselves are
dependent on temperature, light, soil moisture and pH.
The more fugacity of the pesticides, the more transfer of
them to the atmosphere. Higher moisture of the soil ease
degradation rate of the water soluble pesticides by the
microorganisms, while reduce their volatility. Some of the
pesticides such as diazinon are very sensitive to the low
pH range and their degradation at this range dramatically
occurs. Because organophosphorous compounds are
Hazardous Characters of Pesticides: Majority of
pesticides are liquid and have different vapor pressures at
room temperature. The compounds used for agricultural
purposes are available mainly as emulsifiable concentrates
or wet table powder formulations for reconstitution as
liquid sprays, but also as granules for soil applications.
A limited number are also available as fogging
formulations, smokes, impregnated resin strips for use
indoors and as animal or human pharmaceutical
preparations.
Dispersion of spray droplets by wind is possible, but
in general, only small amounts are likely to be dispersed
in this way. All pesticides are subject to degradation by
hydrolysis, yielding water-soluble products that are
believed to be non-toxic at all practical concentrations.
The toxic hazard is therefore essentially short-term in
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Appl. J. Hygiene 3 (1): 01-10, 2014
decomposed faster and easier compared to the
organochlorine compounds, their application have been
increasing day by day. Consumption of fruits and
vegetables containing organochlorine components
residue causes undesirable health disorders especially on
the nerve system [58]. This danger is more acute in Iran
because of the improper attitude that excessive
application of the pesticides leads to the more efficient
deterioration of the pests.
Numbers of reports concerning the bacterial
degradation of chlorobenzoates had already been
published, such as Alcaligenes, Burkholderia,
Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Ralstonia. Most of these strains
are Gram-negative and mesophilic microorganisms.
However, in cold climatic regions, temperature often
decreases to 20 C at most time of the year. Under such
conditions, hydrocarbons are less volatile and become
more insoluble, the activity of mesophilic degraders is
considerably or completely reduced. As a result these
chlorinated organic pollutants will remain undegraded in
the environment under low-temperature rather than
medium or high-temperature conditions [59].
Perclich and Lockwood [60] observed the incidence
of pesticide utilizing bacterial genera such as Bacillus,
Micrococcus, Pseudomonas and vibrio in the water and
sediment samples of irrigational channel. Walker et al. [61]
reported that the pesticide is mainly degraded by
Pseudomonas and Bacillus and this versatility might be
due to the presence of wide range of enzymes. Alexander
[62] found out that a crude enzyme preparation could
hydrolyse aspon,
monocrotphos,
ferscelfothion,
diazinon, malathion and parathion, but could not
hydrolyze dimethoate, trichlorfon and Methyl parathion.
The reduction in parathion degradation by an immobilized
enzyme in field condition could be the instability of the
environmental abiotic factors like pH and temperature.
Hence there is a lot of scope for biotechnologists to find
the riparian bed as microbial source to isolate potential
enzymes that can work in local condition. Lal et al. [63]
have also isolated some naturally occurring soil bacteria
capable of using certain organophosphate pesticides.
Several researchers also reported similar results of lower
degradation at high concentration of hazardous organic
compounds.
Adriaens and Focht [64] reported that chlorobenzoate
degradation appears to be the rate limiting step in the
overall PCB degradation process. Due to their ubiquitous
presence, good water solubility and low toxicity,
chlorobenzoates have been used as models to study the
biodegradation of halogenated aromatic compounds and
to elucidate the microbial strategies implicated in the
release of chlorine substituents.
Grant et al. [65] reported that technical grade
cypermethrin can be reduced from 60 to 6 mg/L by
Pseudomonas sp. in 20 days. However, at increased
concentration of cypermethrin, from 40 to 125 mg/L, a
marked negative effect on the rate of degradation was
observed. This may be due to mineral nutrients which are
required for the growth of Pseudomonas and
biodegradation of cypermethrin may become rate limiting
in the wastewater sample after 48 hours.
Because of the important impact of the
microorganisms in the degradation of the pesticides,
numerous researches have been done regarding
qualitative and quantitative aspects of this phenomenon.
Nawab et al. [66] studied the effects of isolated
Pseudomonas spp. from soil on the DDT, DDD, DDF and
HCH under the laboratory conditions. The bacteria were
able to partially degrade the pesticides. It has been
reported that Flavobacterium and sphingomonas
paucimobil decayed some types of the pesticides during
48 h of fermentation process
Qi Yun et al. [67] conducted the study to compare the
diversity of 2-, 3- and 4-chlorobenzoate degraders in two
pristine soils and one contaminated sewage sludge.
The strain Rhodococcus erythropolis can grow at
temperature from 4 to 37 C. The psychrotolerant ability
was significant for bioremediation in low temperature
regions. Catechol and chlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase
activities were present in cell free extracts of the strain,
but no chlorocatechol 2,3-dioxygenase activities was
detected. Spectral conversion assays with extracts from
Rhodococcus erythropolis showed accumulation of a
compound with a similar UV spectrum as chloro-cis,cismuconate from 3-chlorobenzoate.
Mohan and Ravichandran [68] analyzed the
heterotrophic and pesticide degrading bacteria in
sediment samples of Cauvery River bed, where the farmers
are using methyl parathions as a potent pesticide in
paddy and vegetable fields. They reported, higher
incidence of methyl parathion degrading bacterial
population in the river bed which can be able to utilize the
pesticide at a concentration of 5µl/ml. The heterotrophic
and methyl parathion degrading bacterial counts in soil
sediment samples was carried out on monthly basis.
The total heterotrophic bacterial count was in the range of
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Appl. J. Hygiene 3 (1): 01-10, 2014
REFERENCES
12-20 x 104 CFU/ gm and the total pesticide degrading
bacterial count was 50-90x103 CFU/gm. Among the
pesticide degrading bacterial population, Bacillus sp. was
found to be dominant followed by Pseudomonas sp.,
Micrococcus sp. and Yesinia sp.
Laura Ortiz Hernandez and Enrique Sanchez Salinas
[69] isolated a bacterial consortium which degrades
tetrachlorvinphos (phosphoric acid, 2-chloro-1-(2,4,5trichlorophenyl) ethenyl dimethyl ester from agricultural
soil. The strains were presumptively identified as
Stenotrophomonas malthophilia, Proteus vulgaris,
Vibrio metschinkouii, Serratia ficaria, Serratia sp. and
Yersinia enterocolitica. The consortium and the six
bacteria were assessed in order to discover their ability to
degrade tetrachlorvinphos (TCV) in mineral medium and
in rich medium. Growth curve experiments showed that the
bacterial consortium was able to grow in mineral medium
containing TCV as the only carbon source. However, only
one pure strain was able to remove TCV in mineral
medium, while all of them removed it in rich medium.
Murugesan et al. [70] studied the ability of five
bacterial isolates (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella
sp., Escherichia coli, Bacillus sp. and corynebacterium
sp.) isolated from Brinjal cultivated field to degrade
cypermethrin. It was confirmed that these isolated
organisms were able to utilize and degrade cypermethrin.
On that five different bacterial colonies, Pseudomonas
aeruginosa, Klebsiella sp., Escherichia coli were found
active in utilizing cypermethrin (1%) where as Bacillus sp.
and Corynebacterium were moderately active in utilizing
cypermethrin (0.1%). The growth curve experiment was
performed at 0.1 and 1% dose of cypermethrin to analyze
the viable count of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Eleni Chanika et al. [71] identified two bacterial
isolates as Pseudomonas putida and Acinetobacter
rhizosphaerae to degrade the organophosphate (OP)
fenamiphos (FEN). Both strains hydrolyzed FEN to
fenamiphos phenol which was further transformed, only
by Pseudomonas putida. The two strains were using FEN
as C and N source. Cross-feeding studies with other
pesticides showed that Pseudomonas putida degraded
OPs with a P–O–C linkage and unexpectedly degraded the
carbamates oxamyl and carbofuran being the first wildtype bacterial strain able to degrade both OPs and
carbamates. The same isolate exhibited high
bioremediation
potential
against
spillage-level
concentrations of aged residues of FEN and its oxidized
derivatives.
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