title: Penicillium sp. as an organism that degrades endosulfan and reduces its genotoxic effects.
abstract: Endosulfan is an organochloride and persistent pesticide that has caused concern because of its impact in the environment and its toxicity to and bioaccumulation in living organisms. In this study, we isolated an endosulfan-degrading fungus from the activated sludge from an industrial wastewater treatment plant. Through repetitive enrichment and successive subculture in media containing endosulfan as the sole carbon source, a fungus designated CHE 23 was isolated. Based on a phylogenetic analysis, strain CHE 23 was assigned to the genus Penicillium sp. In a mineral salt medium with 50 mg/l endosulfan as the sole source carbon, CHE 23 removed the added endosulfan in a period of six days. To verify the decrease in endosulfan toxicity due to the activity of the fungus, we performed genotoxicity tests trough the single cell gel electrophoresis assay or comet assay, with Eisenia fetida as the bioindicator species. This organism was exposed to the supernatants of the culture of the fungus and endosulfan. Our results indicated that the genotoxicity of endosulfan was completely reduced due the activity of this fungus. These results suggest that the Penicillium sp. CHE 23 strain can be used to degrade endosulfan residues and/or for water and soil bioremediation processes without causing toxicity problems, which are probably due to the generation of no-toxic metabolites during biodegradation.
authors.affiliation: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, C. P. 62209 Cuernavaca, Mor, México ; Facultad de Química, Paseo Colón esquina Paseo Tollocan, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, S/N. C.P. 50120 Toluca, México.
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romero-Aguilar
authors.affiliation: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, C. P. 62209 Cuernavaca, Mor, México.
authors.forename: Efrain
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tovar-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, C. P. 62209 Cuernavaca, Mor, México.
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Salinas
authors.affiliation: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, C. P. 62209 Cuernavaca, Mor, México.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mussali-Galante
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Química, Paseo Colón esquina Paseo Tollocan, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, S/N. C.P. 50120 Toluca, México.
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Meza
authors.affiliation: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, C. P. 62209 Cuernavaca, Mor, México.
authors.forename: María Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Castrejón-Godínez
authors.affiliation: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, C. P. 62209 Cuernavaca, Mor, México.
authors.forename: Edgar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dantán-González
authors.affiliation: Servicio Nacional de Sanidad, Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria, Carretera Federal Cuernavaca-Cuautla No. 8534 Col. El Progreso Jiutepec, Morelos, C.P. 62550 México.
authors.forename: Miguel Ángel
authors.initials: MÁ
authors.lastname: Trujillo-Vera
authors.affiliation: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, C. P. 62209 Cuernavaca, Mor, México.
authors.forename: Ma Laura
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ortiz-Hernández
keywords: Biodegradation; Endosulfan; Genotoxicity