M. Megharaj, D. Madhavi, C. Sreenivasulu
Aug 1, 1994
Citations
5
Influential Citations
98
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
Abstract
Methyl parathion (O,O-dimethyl O-p-nitrophenyl phosphorothioate), a substitute for its more toxic, now banned analogue, parathion, is extensively used in rice cultivation to control various insect pests (Adhya et al. 1981). The nature and extent of microbial degradation of organophosphorus insecticides by bacteria and fungi have been well documented (Ware and Roan 1970; Barik 1984). Microalgae and cyanobacteria have also been implicated in the metabolism of certain organophosphates such as phorate (Ahmed and Casida 1958), malathion (Christie 1969), parathion (Zuckerman et al. 1970), and monocrotophos and quinalphos (Megharaj et al. 1987). A perusal of the available literature indicates that there are no studies on the metabolism of methyl parathion by soil isolates of microalgae and cyanobacteria (Venkateswarlu 1993). The present study was therefore aimed at determining the role of two green microalgae and four cyanobacterial species, all isolated from soil enrichments, in degradation of methyl parathion.