Abstract:
Excessive of the Malathion which is type of organophosphate in soil especially at the
agriculture fields will contaminated the soil and gave harmful effect to lung,
gastrointestinal tract, skin and nervous system of human and animals. One of the ways to
control the contamination in soil was by using insecticide degrading bacteria obtained
from the soil itself. So, the aims of this study were to isolate the bacteria from soil
samples and to identify bacteria degrading Malathion from soil. The bacteria were
isolated from soil samples that have been treated by Malathion. The rate of Malathion
degradation was screened using enrichment culture mixed with isolated bacteria, trace
element and Malathion for ten days. The result was monitored by using plate count
method and optical density at 600nm which was used to measure the growth phase of
bacteria. The result obtained from plate count method showed that there was no isolated
bacteria successfully degraded the Malathion due to the changes in growth temperature
and chemical properties of nutrients that made the bacteria unable to adapt in artificial
condition of culture. This condition in laboratory can showed that many factor influence
the degrading Malathion.