from Katsumasa Abe, Shouji Takahashi and Yoshio Kera writing in Microbial Bioremediation of Non-metals: Current Research:
Organophosphorus compounds are widely used as pesticides, flame retardants and plasticizers. Due to their large-scale use, they have been detected in various environments, including surface and ground water, soil and air in the world. Since many of these compounds are toxic for many organisms including human, their widespread contamination has become a serious problem for various organisms in the environment. Microbial degradation of organophosphorus compounds has received attention, because it is thought to be more environmentally friendly way than chemical methods. Therefore, many microorganisms capable of degrading organophosphorus compounds have been isolated and characterized. In this chapter, we describe organophosphorus compounds-degrading bacteria and enzymes, and also their application for bioremediation purpose.
Further reading: Microbial Bioremediation of Non-metals: Current Research