Abilities of Co-Cultures of White-Rot Fungus Ganoderma lingzhi and Bacteria Bacillus subtilis on Biodegradation DDT

The insecticide 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) has been used extensively since the 1940s for controlling agricultural pest. Despite a band on DDT use in most industrialized since 1972, DDT and its related residues (DDTr) still persist in the environmental and pose animal as worst as human health risk. In this study, abilities of co-cultures of white-rot fungus Ganoderma lingzhi and Bacillus subtilis on biodegradation of DDT was investigated. B. subtilis at various volumes of 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 mL (1 mL ≈ 6.7 × 10⁸ CFU) were mixed into 10 mL of G. lingzhi culture for degrading DDT during a 7-days incubation period. The addition of 10 mL of B. subtilis showed the highest DDT degradation about 82.30% during 7-days incubation period. DDD (1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane) and DDMU (1-chloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethylene) were detected as metabolite products. This study indicated that co-cultures of G. lingzhi and B. subtilis can be used for degradation of DDT.