Effect of Endosulfan on the Biodegradation and Bioaccumulation of Pesticides
M. Rajesh *
Department of Zoology, Govt. Arts. College Melur, India.
M. Arumugam
Department of Zoology, Govt. Arts. College Melur, India.
V. Prabakaran
Department of Zoology, Govt. Arts. College Melur, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
In present investigation the persistent use of chemicals, pesticides and insecticides caused drastic and lethal effects on the non-targeted animals and environment. The pesticides which are considered to be recalcitrant endosulfan and chloropyrifos which are used extensively in paddy field can be degraded by microorganisms. In the study, the isomers of endosulfan are alpha, beta and sulfate are thoroughly studied. Besides the indicator animal used in the present study was Cyprinus carpio. The fish exposed to the pesticides was treated with micro-organisms to degrade and to assess the presence of pesticides in muscles, tissues and gills. The micro- organisms employed for the degradation study was isolated from paddy field soil, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which has highly degrading ability. The other pesticides used was carbaryl commonly called sevin. The study further extended to assess the protein content in different treatments. It was found out that bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa degraded effectively leading to enhanced protein content rather compared to control treated experiments. The present study recorded that the Pseudomonas aeruginosa degrade upto 30.94% of endosulfan in 30 days.
Keywords: Biodegradation, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, bio-accumulation, xenobiotics