Abstract

FTIR AND HPLC ANALYSIS OF BACTERIAL DEGRADATION OF METHYL PARATHION

Ramachandran T, Violet Dhayabaran*, Thirupathy, Jasmine R

ABSTRACT

Bioremediation is a promising alternative to physico-chemical methods of remediation, because it is less expensive and can selectively achieve complete destruction of organic pollutants. The use of microorganisms for the degradation and detoxification of numerous toxic xenobiotic, especially pesticides, proved to be an efficient tool to decontaminate the polluted sites in the prevailing environment. A bacterium capable of tolerating and resisting an organophosphorous pesticide, methyl parathion was isolated from agricultural fields from Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, and India. The bacterium was effectively shown to grow in the presence of the pesticide at various concentrations. The results reveal that the isolated bacterium could efficiently grow in the presence of the pesticide and could effectively degrade them, which could be employed to treat soils loaded with such pesticides. Therefore, the present study, analyses microbial degradation of Methyl Parathion (MP) by a soil bacterium, which may provide a basis for the development of bioremediation strategies to remediate the pollutants in the environment. The degradation under various physico- chemical parameters was also analyzed. The growth curve of the isolated bacterium in the presence of the pesticide was also obtained. Further studies should be conducted to investigate the mechanisms by which bacteria and their enzymes can assimilate these compounds.

Keywords: Methyl parathion, Remediation, Klebsiella, Enterobacter.