Abstract
Chlorpyrifos (CP) is a widely used organophosphate (OP) insecticide and a potent environmental neurotoxin. This research focuses on the potential of bacteria, both native to agricultural soil and part of a designed consortium composed of laboratory strains, to completely degrade CP and its toxic metabolites. Metabolite production and degradation kinetics analysis through gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry (GCMS) analysis was conducted on native soil samples and compared to soil spiked with different combinations of bacterial consortia over 7 days to determine the effectiveness of CP degradation in both non-augmented and augmented soil. GCMS analysis of augmented soil samples inoculated with putative microbial CP degradation activity identified four CP metabolites, including 3,5,6-trichloropyridinol (TCP), phosphorothioic acid, fumaric acid, and ethanol. Non-augmented ranch and crop field soil also displayed a greater native degradation capacity than garden soil, possibly due to greater pesticide exposure. CP-inoculated soil spiked with a 3-strain consortium exhibited the highest degradation rate, with 78.55% of CP degraded within 48 h. Overall, degradation kinetics for augmented and non-augmented soil samples showed that CP had an average half-life of 1.03 and 5.45 days, respectively. The outcome of this study suggests that while native agricultural populations are capable of CP degradation, supplementing contaminated soil with a bacterial consortium consisting of Pseudomonas putida CBF10-2, Ochrobactrum anthropi FRAF13, and Rhizobium radiobacter GHKF11 could be a highly efficient and safe biological approach to facilitating rapid and efficient CP degradation in agriculture.
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Data Availability
All 3 bacterial strains associated with this study are housed in the Iyer microbial library at the University of Houston.
Code Availability
Not applicable.
Abbreviations
- CP:
-
Chlorpyrifos
- DETP:
-
Diethylthiophosphate
- EPA:
-
Environmental Protection Agency
- GC-MS:
-
Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
- IS:
-
Internal standard
- MRM:
-
Multiple reaction monitoring
- MSM:
-
Modified mineral medium
- OP:
-
Organophosphate
- PTE:
-
Phosphotriesterase
- TCP:
-
2-Hydroxy-3,5,6-trichloropyridine
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Brian Iken, a lecturer at the University of Houston, for his help in project management while research was conducted in the Iyer Laboratory and the editing of the final manuscript.
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All research work was conducted in RI’s research laboratory at the University of Houston. RI supervised and directed all research work conducted in the laboratory. NI performed all relevant experimentation and drafted the current manuscript. Both authors contributed to the proofreading of the final manuscript draft.
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Islam, N., Iyer, R. Functional Analysis of Chlorpyrifos Biodegradation in Agricultural Soils Augmented with a Three-Strain Bacterial Consortium. Water Air Soil Pollut 232, 425 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-021-05349-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-021-05349-z