ABSTRACT

Lindane (γ-hexachlorocyclohexane) is an organochlorine pesticide (OP) that has been used for crop protection worldwide and control of vector-borne diseases (Manickam et al. 2008). Lindane is a potential carcinogen and listed as a very well known pollutant by the US EPA (Walker et al. 1999). Although nowadays it’s use is restricted or banned completely in most countries, residues of lindane are found all over the world in soil, water, air, plants, agricultural products, animals and humans (Piñero González et al. 2007, Kidd et al. 2008, Herrero-Mercado et al. 2010, Fuentes et al. 2011). Since toxicity associated with lindane is well-known, it is imperative to develop

1Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales y Microbiológicos (PROIMI), CONICET, Av. Belgrano y Pasaje Caseros, 4000 Tucumán, Argentina. aEmail: lumaya12@hotmail.com bEmail: amoroso@proimi.org.ar 2Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Miguel Lillo 205, Tucumán. 3Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Ayacucho 471, Tucumán. 4Universidad de Norte Santo Tomás de Aquino, 9 de Julio 165, Tucumán. *Corresponding author: alvanalia@gmail.com

methods to remove it from the environment. Bioremediation technologies, which use plants and/or microorganisms to degrade toxic contaminants, have become the focus of interest.