Biodegradation of chlorpyrifos by co-culture of Cellulomonas fimi and Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Chlorpyrifos is one of the major organophosphorous pesticides used in agriculture to control insect pests. Due to the widespread toxicity of chlorpyrifos in the environment, exploration of various chlorpyrifos-degrading microbes to clean-up the pollutant is of immense importance. A bacterial strain (Cellulomonas fimi), that could transform chlorpyrifos to 3,5,6-trichloro-2 pyridinol (TCP) and a TCP utilizing fungal strain (Phanerochaete chrysosporium) were obtained from microbial type culture collection (MTCC), microbial type of culture collection, Chandigarh. The fungus could also degrade 50 mg chlorpyrifos L-1 within 6 days. Co culture completely mineralized 50 mg chlorpyrifos L-1 with 16 h at 33oC and at pH 8.4 using a total inoculam of 0.13 g biomass L-1. These results showed that, the chlorpyrifos degrading bacterial and fungal strains had the potential to clean up the organophosphorous pesticide-contaminated environment.   Key words: Chlorpyrifos, organophosphorous, Mineralization, Cellulomonas fimi, Phanerochaete chrysosporium.