1 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Bayero University, Kano
2 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Although DDT has been on the ban list by the Stockholm Convention for its environmental degradation, still a wave of emerging shreds of evidence has proved its circulation in developing countries. The intensity of environmental degradation and human health problems posed by residual DDT and its metabolites become of serious ecological concern, warranting a search for novel strains with a capacity to biodegrade these environmental contaminants. A new strain of the genus Staphylococcus was isolated from pesticide-contaminated soil. The 16S rRNA and phylogenetic analyses were used to identify the isolate and the 16S rRNA partial gene sequence was deposited in the NCBI GenBank as Staphylococcus sp. strain MY 83295F. The isolate was capable of growing in up to 60 mg L-1 of p,p’-DDT as the sole carbon source at an optimum pH of 6.5 and optimum temperature of 30°C within 120 h. Zn2+ has demonstrated a stimulatory effect on the growth of the strain in p,p’-DDT containing medium. However, Fe, Cu, Pb, Hg, Ag, and Cr ions showed inhibitory effects on the strain’s growth in the medium. The strain could be a handy tool for the bio-cleansing of residual p,p’-DDT in the contaminated environment.