Microbial Decontamination of Parathion and p-Nitrophenol in Aqueous Media

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Abstract
A mixed microbial culture was adapted to growth on parathion to determine the feasibility of using microorganisms to detoxify concentrated parathion in agricultural wastes. In a 600-ml chemostat, the culture was able to degrade 50 mg of parathion per liter per h. Para-nitrophenol, produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of parathion, caused delays in exponential growth which were directly proportional to its concentration. A pseudomonad, isolated from the mixed culture, exhibited optimal growth at 0.21 mM p-nitrophenol and grew in concentrations up to 3.5 mM. In metabolic studies using [14C]p-nitrophenol, the nitro group was removed in stoichiometric quantities as nitrite and hydroquinone was tentatively identified as a metabolite.