Metabolism of Fensulfothion by a Soil Bacterium, Pseudomonas alcaligenes $C_1$

Sheela, S and Pai, Balakrishna S (1983) Metabolism of Fensulfothion by a Soil Bacterium, Pseudomonas alcaligenes $C_1$. In: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 46 (2). pp. 475-479.

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Abstract

Fensulfothion(0,0-diethyl0-[4-(methylsulfinyl)phenyl]phosphorothioate),an organophosphorus pesticide used to control the golden nematode Heterodera rostochiensis, is used as a source of carbon by microorganisms isolated from soils treated with the pesticide. Two of the microbial isolates, Pseudomonas alcaligenes $C_1$ and Alcaligenes sp. strain $NC_3$, used more than 80% of the pesticide in 120 h in culture when supplemented as a source of carbon. P. alcaligenes $C_1$, which showed maximal growth on fensulfothion, degraded the compound to pmethylsulfinyl phenol and diethyl phosphorothioic acid. The phenolic metabolite could be identified by conventional spectral analysis, whereas the spectral patterns of the phosphorus-containing metabolite suggested that the compound was complexed with some cellular molecules. However, utilization of the phosphoric acid ester and ethanol by P. alcaligenes $C_1$ suggested that the microbe attacks fensulfothion by an initial hydrolysis of the compound and subsequent utilization of the phosphoric acid ester. The pathway of degradation offensulfothion by P. alcaligenes is of great value in the detoxification of the pesticide residues and also in the environmentally stable phosphoric acid esters.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Publisher:	American Society for Microbiology
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to American Society for Microbiology.
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Microbiology & Cell Biology
Date Deposited:	22 Jul 2008
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:47
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/15151

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