Biodegradation of the pyrethroid pesticide cyfluthrin by the halophilic bacterium Photobacterium ganghwense isolated from coral reef ecosystem

A halophilic bacterial strain T14 isolated from the mucus of coral Acropora formosa was found to be highly effective in degrading the pyrethroid pesticide, cyfluthrin. T14 was identified as Photobacterium ganghwense (GenBank Accession No. MT360254) based on phenotypic and biochemical characteristics as well as by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The pyrethroid degrading efficiency of P. ganghwense T14 strain was examined under different culture conditions. It was observed that P. ganghwense T14 was able to utilise cyfluthrin as a sole carbon source and was found to grow on mineral medium with pesticide concentrations ranging from 10 to 100 mg l-1.