Department of Life Sciences, University of Mumbai, Vidyanagari, Santacruz (East), Mumbai, 400 098, India.
Biodegradation. 2010 Jul;21(4):637-44. doi: 10.1007/s10532-010-9331-6. Epub 2010 Feb 3.
Spirulina is a photosynthetic, filamentous, spiral-shaped, multicellular, blue-green microalga. The two most important species are Spirulina maxima and Spirulina platensis. Spirulina is considered an excellent food, lacking toxicity and having corrective properties against viral attacks, anemia, tumor growth and malnutrition. We have observed that cultures of Spirulina platensis grow in media containing up to 80 ppm of the organophosphorous pesticide, Chlorpyrifos. It was found to be due to an alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity that was detected in cell free extracts of Spirulina platensis. This activity was purified from the cell free extracts using ammonium sulphate precipitation and gel filtration and shown to belong to the class of EC 3.1.3.1 ALP. The purified enzyme degrades 100 ppm Chlorpyrifos to 20 ppm in 1 h transforming it into its primary metabolite 3, 5, 6-trichloro-2-pyridinol. This is the first report of degradation of Chlorpyrifos by Spirulina platensis whose enzymic mechanism has been clearly identified. These findings have immense potential for harnessing Spirulina platensis in bioremediation of polluted ecosystems.
螺旋藻是一种光合、丝状、螺旋形、多细胞、蓝绿色微藻。最重要的两个物种是极大螺旋藻和钝顶螺旋藻。螺旋藻被认为是一种极好的食物，无毒，具有对抗病毒攻击、贫血、肿瘤生长和营养不良的纠正特性。我们观察到，在含有高达 80ppm 有机磷农药毒死蜱的培养基中，螺旋藻 platensis 可以生长。这是由于在钝顶螺旋藻的无细胞提取物中检测到碱性磷酸酶（ALP）活性。该活性通过硫酸铵沉淀和凝胶过滤从无细胞提取物中纯化，并被证明属于 EC 3.1.3.1 ALP 类。纯化的酶在 1 小时内将 100ppm 的毒死蜱降解为 20ppm，将其转化为其主要代谢物 3,5,6-三氯-2-吡啶醇。这是螺旋藻 platensis 降解毒死蜱的第一个报道，其酶促机制已被明确确定。这些发现为利用螺旋藻 platensis 进行受污染生态系统的生物修复提供了巨大的潜力。
