SCREENING AND STUDYING THE DESTRUCTIVE ACTIVITY OF PERSISTENT ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDES

Abstract

Screening of bacterial strains isolated from soils contaminated with organochlorine pesticides was carried out. Bacterial strains have been identified that are capable of growth on a mineral medium with organochlorine pesticides - the γ-isomer of hexachlorocyclohexane and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane as the only carbon source. The processes of hexachlorocyclohexane degradation by monocultures and associations of isolated bacterial strains were studied. A monoculture of bacterial strains and a consortium created on the basis of the four most active strains are capable of destroying hexachlorocyclohexane when contained in a nutrient medium at a concentration of 100 μg/ml. It was shown that monocultures of four bacterial strains almost completely degraded hexachlorocyclohexane within one month. The consortium of destructor strains contributed to a decrease in the initial concentration of the drug from 100 μg to 45.55 μg in 12 days. The species identity of the active strains of destructor bacteria was determined.