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Evidence of biodegradation of chlorpyrifos by a newly isolated heavy metal-tolerant bacterium Acinetobacter sp. strain MemCl4

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Abstract

A bacterial strain, designated as MemCl4, capable of utilizing chlorpyrifos as sole source of carbon was isolated by enrichment culture from an agricultural soil sample of Burdwan District, West Bengal, India. It was identified as Acinetobacter sp. by using phenotypic and 16S rRNA gene-based molecular phylogenetic approach. The strain could degrade 98 % of chlorpyrifos within 144 h. Through thin layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses, 3,5,6 trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP) was identified as the only major intermediate during such degradation. The strain could also utilize TCP as sole source of carbon for growth. Degradation studies indicated utilization of chlorpyrifos with formation TCP, followed by decrease in amount of TCP with gradual passage of time. This indicated evidence of mineralization of both chlorpyrifos and TCP by the strain. The Gram-negative and esterase-positive strain was capable of tolerating various heavy metal salts such as arsenite, arsenate, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, nickel and zinc on sucrose low-phosphate medium. The strain MemCl4 might be considered biotechnologically potential for bioremediation and or restoration of chlorpyrifos-contaminated agricultural fields. This is the first report of a chlorpyrifos-degrading, heavy metal-tolerant bacterium belonging to the genus Acinetobacter, to the best of our knowledge. The strain, however, could not degrade chlorpyrifos in the presence of two heavy metal salts tested (viz. arsenate and zinc sulfate).

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. S. Shivaji, (former scientist of CCMB, Hyderabad) for his help in DNA sequencing, Dr. W. Ghosh, Microbiology Department, Bose Institute, Kolkata, for useful suggestions and discussions and Mr. Swaroop Biswas of CIF, Bose Institute, Kolkata, for his help in HPLC. We are grateful to Dr. T. J Abraham, Department of fishery pathology and Microbiology, WBUFS, Kolkata, for Vitek analysis. We are grateful to SERB, New Delhi, for financial support through project (No. SR/FT/LS-109/2010). SP was supported by a state fellowship through Burdwan University; KSG is supported by DST-INSPIRE fellowship (IF120104); and UG was supported by project assistantship from SERB project.

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  1. Department of Microbiology, Burdwan University, Golapbag, Burdwan, WB, 713104, India

    Santanu Pailan, Kriti Sengupta, Urmimala Ganguly & Pradipta Saha

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Pailan, S., Sengupta, K., Ganguly, U. et al. Evidence of biodegradation of chlorpyrifos by a newly isolated heavy metal-tolerant bacterium Acinetobacter sp. strain MemCl4. Environ Earth Sci 75, 1019 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-5834-8

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