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Biodegradation of the organochlorine insecticide, endosulfan, and the toxic metabolite, endosulfan sulfate, by Klebsiella oxytoca KE-8

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Abstract

Biodegradation of endosulfan, a chlorinated cyclodiene insecticide, is generally accompanied by production of the more toxic and more persistent metabolite, endosulfan sulfate. Since our reported endosulfan degrader, Klebsiella pneumoniae KE-1, failed to degrade endosulfan sulfate, we tried to isolate an endosulfan sulfate degrader from endosulfan-polluted soils. Through repetitive enrichment and successive subculture using mineral salt medium containing endosulfan or endosulfan sulfate as the sole source of carbon and energy, we isolated a bacterium capable of degrading endosulfan sulfate as well as endosulfan. The bacterium KE-8 was identified as Klebsiella oxytoca from the results of 16S rDNA sequence analysis. In biodegradation assays with KE-8 using mineral salt medium containing endosulfan (150 mg l−1) or endosulfan sulfate (173 mg l−1), the biomass was rapidly increased to an optical density at 550 nm of 1.9 in 4 days and the degradation constants for α- and β-endosulfan, and endosulfan sulfate were 0.3084, 0.2983 and 0.2465 day−1, respectively. Analysis of the metabolites further suggested that K. oxytoca KE-8 has high potential as a biocatalyst for bioremediation of endosulfan and/or endosulfan sulfate.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from BioGreen21 program, Rural Development administration, Republic of Korea (1000520030096000).

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Correspondence to Gi-Seok Kwon.

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Kwon, GS., Sohn, HY., Shin, KS. et al. Biodegradation of the organochlorine insecticide, endosulfan, and the toxic metabolite, endosulfan sulfate, by Klebsiella oxytoca KE-8. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 67, 845–850 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-004-1879-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-004-1879-9

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