Bacterial consortium for efficient degradation of di-ethyl phthalate in soil microcosm

Abstract

The worldwide increase of industrialization and reduction in the forest cover has led to the accumulation of harmful contaminants into the environment. One such ?emerging? group of contaminants is phthalate esters that have been reported from all around the world. Di ethyl phthalate (DEP) has wide applications as plasticizers of polyvinyl chloride, and attributable to its endocrine disrupting and anti-androgenic activity. In agriculture, there is wide use of plastic films such as in mulching and greenhouse. Due to heat and other factors, DEP from plastic leaches down is difficult to degrade and enters the food chain. In the present study, nine different DEP degrading bacterial morphotypes were isolated from three soil samples collected from the Centre for Cultivated Protection Technology IARI, New Delhi, India. All the isolates were able to grow in DEP amended MS medium and finally three efficient bacterial isolates namely Achromobacter sp. strain DEPA3, Pseudomonas sp. strain DEPB3, and Enterobacter sp. strain DEPC1 were selected for the degradation of DEP in MS broth and soil microcosm individually as well as the mixed consortium. In MS broth, 84.91?96.14% DEP degradation was observed while in soil microcosm 81.16?92.39% degradation occurred within 30 days of inoculation. In the future, the potential isolates selected in the present study can be employed for bioremediation of contaminated sites.