Isolation and Identification of Endosulfan Degrading Native Bacterial Consortium from Agricultural Soils

The environmental impact of chlorinated pesticides, including endosulfan, is not only caused by their persistency in the ecosystem but also from their toxic effects on off-target living organisms. In this study, three different strains of microorganisms, namely Afipia genosp, Sphingomonas yanoikuyae Q1 and Methylobacterium rhodesianum that are capable of biodegrading endosulfan at low concentrations (100 µg/L) from a tea cultivation field were reported. The isolated microbial consortium biodegraded 59% of the total endosulfan (63% α-endosulfan, 57% β-endosulfan) at pH 6.5. The same consortium biodegraded 98% of the total endosulfan (96% of α-endosulfan, 97% of β-endosulfan) at pH 8.4. All endosulfan removal performances were observed for a period of 25 days and the experiments were conducted at 25 °C, which was a relatively lower temperature compared to other endosulfan biodegradation studies in the literature. Additional carbon source did not change the overall endosulfan removal. No endosulfan sulfate production was observed during the study.