Cellobiose dehydrogenase-dependent biodegradation of polyacrylate polymers by Phanerochaete chrysosporium

When Phanerochaete chrysosporium was cultured using conditions which promote the expression of cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH), but not the ligninolytic peroxidases, the fungus effectively solubilized and mineralized an insoluble, crosslinked polyacrylate and an insoluble polyacrylate/polyacrylamide copolymer. Addition of iron to the cultures increased CDH activity in the cultures and the rate and extent of solubilization and mineralization of both polymers. Solubilization of both polymers was observed when incubated with purified CDH, ferric iron and hydrogen peroxide.     

Biodegradation of crosslinked acrylic polymers by a white-rot fungus

Two synthetic superabsorbent crosslinked acrylic polymers were mineralized by the white-rot fungusPhanerochaete chrysosporium. The amount of polymer converted to CO₂ increased as the amount of polymer added to the cultures increased. In the presence of sufficiently large amounts of the superabsorbents, such that all of the culture fluid was absorbed and a gelatinous matrix was formed, the fungus still grew and mineralization was observed. Neither the polymers, nor their degradation products were toxic to the fungus. While the rates of mineralization were low, all of the polymers incubated in the liquid fungal cultures were completely depolymerized to water soluble products within 15–18 days. The depolymerization of the polymers was observed only in nitrogen limited cultures of the fungus which secrete the lignin degradation system, however, the water soluble products of depolymerization were mineralized in both nutrient limited and sufficient cultures of the fungus. The rate of mineralization of the depolymerized metabolites was more than two times greater in nutrient sufficient cultures. Following longer incubation periods, most (> 80 %) of the radioactivity was recovered in the fungal mycelial mat suggesting that carbon of the polymer had been converted to fungal metabolites.     

Phanerochaete chrysosporium吸附载体的选择及染料降解研究

研究了游离细胞与载体吸附培养、不同载体材料对Phanerochaete chrysosporium进行连续染料脱色及产酶能力的影响。结果表明，P. chrysosporium可在载体上良好生长，甚至生长到载体内部。木屑、玉米芯、花生壳3种载体材料中，以木屑载体吸附培养物的持续脱色和产酶效果最佳，该培养物经三轮连续脱色后对染料RB5仍能达到最高95%的脱色率，并产生596 U/L锰依赖过氧化物酶（MnP）和1 326 U/L木质素过氧化物酶（LiP），对染料的持续脱色和产酶能力明显优于游离细胞培养物。     

Cellular and molecular damage of Phanerochaete chrysosporium by the oxidation hair dyes

Introduction

The toxic effect of the oxidation hair dyes on Phanerochaete chrysosporium was investigated by exposure of this fungus in a nitrogen-limited culture medium to various concentrations of the oxidation hair dyes.

Results

The results showed that both the size and the dry weight of the mycelial pellets of P. chrysosporium could be reduced when the concentration of the oxidation hair dyes was higher than 300?mg/L. By using the AFLP analysis and the UPGMA dendrogram, the DNA damage of P. chrysosporium by the oxidation hair dyes was also detected. Comparing with that in the control, the percent polymorphism under different concentrations of the oxidation hair dyes increased. In the meantime, the DNA similarity was decreased, which meant that the DNA damage was aggravated with an increase in the concentrations of the oxidation hair dyes.

Conclusion

Thus, as an environmental pollutant, the oxidation hair dyes have a toxic effect on P. chrysosporium at both cellular and molecular levels.     

Application of microbial hot spots enhances pesticide degradation in soils

Through transfer of an active, isoproturon degrading microbial community, pesticide mineralization could be successfully enhanced in various soils under laboratory and outdoor conditions. The microbes, extracted from a soil having high native ability to mineralize this chemical, were established on expanded clay particles and distributed to various soils in the form of microbial "hot spots". Both, diffusion controlled isoproturon mass flow towards these "hot spots" (6microg d(-1)) as well as microbial ability to mineralize the herbicide (approximately 5microg d(-1)) were identified as the main processes enabling a multiple augmentation of the native isoproturon mineralization even in soils with heavy metal contamination. Soil pH-value appears to exert an important effect on the sustainability of this process.     

2,4-Dichlorophenoxy Acetic Acid Mineralization in Amended Soil

The application of municipal biosolid or liquid hog manure to agricultural soils under laboratory conditions at 20°C influenced the fate of the herbicide 2,4-D [2,4-(dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid] in soil. When 2,4-D was added to soil at agronomic rates immediately after the addition of manure or biosolids to a coarse-textured soil, the percentage of 2,4-D mineralized at 100 days was about 47% for both treatments, compared to only 31% for control soils without amendments. The enhanced 2,4-D mineralization as a result of amendment addition was due to an increased heterotrophic microbial activity, with the greatest increases in soil respiration occurring for soils amended with biosolids. When additions of 2,4-D were delayed for one, two, or four weeks after the amendments were applied, the additions of amendments generally reduced 2,4-D mineralization in soil, particularly for manure, indicating that the effect of amendments on enhancing soil microbial activities diminished over time. In contrast, the mineralization of 2,4-D in control soils was less dependent on when 2,4-D was applied in relation to pre-incubations of soil for zero, one, two, or four weeks. The effect of manure on decreasing 2,4-D mineralization in specific soils was as large as the effect of soil texture on differences in 2,4-D mineralization across soils. Because manure was not found to impact 2,4-D sorption by soil, it is possible that 2,4-D mineralization decreased because 2,4-D transformation products were strongly sorbed onto organic carbon constituents in manure-amended soils and were therefore less accessible to microorganisms. Alternatively, microorganisms were less likely to metabolize the herbicide because they preferentially consumed the type of organic carbon in manure that is a weak sorbent for 2,4-D.     

Effect of Manure on Glyphosate and Trifluralin Mineralization in Soil

Manure additions to soil may alter soil chemical, physical, and biological characteristics, and thereby change pesticide fate processes in soil. This is the first study to examine the impact of liquid hog manure amendments on glyphosate and trifluralin mineralization in soil. Experiments were conducted in soil microcosms in the laboratory for a total of 332 (glyphosate) and 430 (trifluralin) days. The rate and amount of mineralization of both glyphosate and trifluralin were significantly influenced by the additions of fresh manure to soil in the laboratory and by the history of manure applications in the field. However, the maximum difference in herbicide mineralization between soils that were free of manure application and those amended with manure in the field or in the laboratory was only 6.1% and 7.3% of that initially applied, for trifluralin and glyphosate, respectively. Therefore, we conclude that liquid hog manure application to soil will have no significant effect on the mineralization of glyphosate and trifluralin under field conditions.     

2,4-D Mineralization in soil profiles of a cultivated hummocky landscape in Manitoba,Canada

The objective of this study was to quantify 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) mineralization in soil profiles characteristic of hummocky, calcareous-soil landscapes in western Canada. Twenty-five soil cores (8 cm inner diameter, 50 to 125 cm length) were collected along a 360 m transect running west to east in an agricultural field and then segmented by soil-landscape position (upper slopes, mid slopes, lower slopes and depressions) and soil horizon (A, B, and C horizons). In the A horizon, 2,4-D mineralization commenced instantaneously and the mineralization rate followed first-order kinetics. In both the B and C horizons, 2,4-D mineralization only commenced after a lag period of typically 5 to 7 days and the mineralization rate was biphasic. In the A horizon, 2,4-D mineralization parameters including the first-order mineralization rate constant (k ₁), the growth-linked mineralization rate constant (k ₂) and total 2,4-D mineralization at the end of the experiment at 56 days, were most strongly correlated to parameters describing 2,4-D sorption by soil, but were also adequately correlated to soil organic carbon content, soil pH, and carbonate content. In both B and C horizons, there was no significant correlation between 2,4-D mineralization and 2,4-D sorption parameters, and the correlation between soil properties and 2,4-D mineralization parameters was very poor. The k ₁ significantly decreased in sequence of A horizon (0.113% day^?1) > B horizon (0.024% day^?1) = C horizon (0.026% day^?1) and in each soil horizon was greater than k ₂. Total 2,4-D mineralization at 56 days also significantly decreased in sequence of A horizon (42%) > B horizon (31%) = C horizon (27%). In the A horizon, slope position had little influence on k ₁ or k ₂, except that k ₁ was significantly greater in upper slopes (0.170% day^?1) than in lower slopes (0.080% day^?1). Neither k ₁ nor k ₂ was significantly influenced by slope position in the B or C horizons. Total 2,4-D mineralization at 56 days was not influenced by slope positions in any horizon. Our results suggest that, when predicting 2,4-D transport at the field scale, pesticide fate models should consider the strong differences in 2,4-D mineralization between surface and subsurface horizons. This suggests that 2,4-D mineralization is best predicted using a model that has the ability to describe a range of non-linear mineralization curves. We also conclude that the horizontal variations in 2,4-D mineralization at the field scale will be difficult to consider in predictions of 2,4-D transport at the field scale because, within each horizon, 2,4-D mineralization was highly variable across the twenty-five soil cores, and this variability was poorly correlated to soil properties or soil-landscape position.     

氧化亚铁硫杆菌对电子垃圾焚烧迹地重金属形态的影响简

采用生物淋滤法处理电子垃圾焚烧迹地重金属严重污染的土壤。所用氧化亚铁硫杆菌是从矿坑废水中通过一系列培养、分离和纯化得到。实验结果表明，生物淋滤法可以有效地去除土壤中重金属Cu、Pb和Zn，去除率的大小顺序为Zn>Cu>Pb；采用五步连续提取法分析处理前后土壤中重金属的存在形态，结果表明，通过氧化亚铁硫杆菌处理受重金属污染的土壤，可以促使易移动的重金属结合态的溶解（可交换态、碳酸盐结合态和Fe-Mn氧化物结合态），并使难移动的重金属结合态向易移动的重金属结合态转变。     

Effect of manure on glyphosate and trifluralin mineralization in soil

Manure additions to soil may alter soil chemical, physical, and biological characteristics, and thereby change pesticide fate processes in soil. This is the first study to examine the impact of liquid hog manure amendments on glyphosate and trifluralin mineralization in soil. Experiments were conducted in soil microcosms in the laboratory for a total of 332 (glyphosate) and 430 (trifluralin) days. The rate and amount of mineralization of both glyphosate and trifluralin were significantly influenced by the additions of fresh manure to soil in the laboratory and by the history of manure applications in the field. However, the maximum difference in herbicide mineralization between soils that were free of manure application and those amended with manure in the field or in the laboratory was only 6.1% and 7.3% of that initially applied, for trifluralin and glyphosate, respectively. Therefore, we conclude that liquid hog manure application to soil will have no significant effect on the mineralization of glyphosate and trifluralin under field conditions.     

Biodegradation of sucrose poly fatty acid esters in soils

Sucrose polyesters (SPEs) were applied to soil at rates equivalent to 1062 to 1293 kg per hectare and incubated over periods of 100 to 403 days at 20 ± 2°C in darkness and at a soil moisture of 40 % of the maximum water holding capacity. All applied forms of SPEs were aerobically biodegraded to some degree in both American and German soil. However, the mineralization rates varied considerably and were dependent on both SPE and soil type. For example, sucrose octaoleate underwent slow and limited mineralization in the German soils Speyer and Borstel as well as in the American soil Madera, reaching only 6.9 – 18.4 % mineralisation after over 400 days incubation. The same material in the American soils Hollande, Thermal and Uvalde as well as in the German soil Speicherkoog, reached 35–52 % after the same incubation period. Of the SPEs most realistic for use in food products, the more liquid (i.e. with the least saturated fatty acids) underwent the most rapid and extensive mineralization. However, the mineralization rates for these materials were distinctly lower than the corresponding ones for sucrose octaoleate. In all cases the extent of mineralization of the SPEs in soil was significantly lower than that of a control fat (synthetic triglyceride mixture HB307), which typically underwent over 50 % mineralization in 60 days.

As field conditions would be considerably different to those in the laboratory (due to the presence of microbially acclimatised sewage sludge, fluctuations in soil temperature and moisture, and contamination by ecotoxic pollutants) it is difficult to predict accurately, on the basis of laboratory results, the likely rate of mineralization of SPEs in the field. However, this study does suggest that the more solid the SPE, the more likely it is to persist, and possibly accumulate, following application to soil.     

Pseudomonas fluorescens Dynamics in the Soil Surface to Subsurface Transect

Microbial displacement in the soil is an important process for bioremediation and dispersal of wastewater pathogens. We evaluated cell movement in surface and subsurface red-yellow podzolic soil driven by advection and microbial motility and also survival of a microbial population at high pressure as is prevalent in deep soil layers. Pseudomonas fluorescens Br 12, resistant to rifampycin and kanamycin, was used as a model organism traceable in non-sterile soil. Our results showed that more than 40% of the P. fluorescens population survived under high pressure, and that microbial motility was not a major factor for its displacement in the soil. Cells were adsorbed in similar amounts to surface and subsurface soils, but more viable cells were present in the leachate of surface than in subsurface soils. The nature of this unexpected cell binding to the subsurface soil was studied by EPR, Mossbauer, NMR, and infrared techniques, suggesting iron had a weak interaction with microbes in soil. P. fluorescens movement in soil resulted mainly from convection forces rather than microbial motility. The transport of this bacterium along the transept toward groundwater encountered restricted viability, although it survived under high pressure conditions simulating those in deep soil layers.     

Biological solubilization and mineralization as novel approach for the pretreatment of food waste

The performance of a garbage disposal system to solubilize and mineralize food wastes through biological solubilization was evaluated through the examination of the effects of operational conditions like water supply volume, water supply frequency and aeration on the amount of waste solubilized, mineralized and accumulated in the reactor. The biological solubilization process consisted of a solubilization reactor and a circulation tank. Food waste and fresh water were supplied into the solubilization reactor with support media. Wastewater from the solubilization reactor was discharged to the circulation tank and water in the circulation tank was periodically pumped back to the solubilization reactor. In case of the total food waste loading of 16 kg m(3-1) d(-1), little carbon (0-5.7%) accumulated in the reactor as long as the system was kept under aerobic condition through large volume of water supply (higher than 3.5 lh(-1)) or applying aeration in the circulation tank. However, 42% of the loaded carbon accumulated under anaerobic condition in low water supply (less than 1.8 lh(-1)). The rest of the waste was either solubilized or mineralized. The aeration in the circulation tank, therefore, was effective to provide similar solubilization and mineralization as the large volume of water supply. However, frequency of feeding at the large volume of water supply had no significant effect on the amount of waste solubilization and mineralization.     

Aerobic and anaerobic degradation of profluralin and trifluralin

Abstract

The degradation of profluralin [N‐(cyclopropylmethyl)‐α,α,α‐trifluoro‐2,6‐dinitro‐N‐propyl‐]p‐toluidine] and trifluralin (α,α,α‐trifluoro‐2,6‐dinitro‐N,N‐dipropyl‐p‐toluidine) was studied under aerobic and anaerobic soil conditions. Three soils (Goldsboro loamy sand, Cecil loamy sand, Drummer clay loam) were each treated with 1 ppmw herbicide; anaerobic conditions were maintained by flooding. Soil samples were extracted monthly and subjected to TLC analysis. No degradation was detected in sterile controls. Aerobic degradation of both herbicides was greatest in the Cecil loamy sand soil over the entire incubation period. Degradation of profluralin in Cecil soil under aerobic conditions was 86 percent after 4 months with three products detected; 83 percent of the trifluralin was degraded with two products detected. Anaerobic degradation accounted for 72 percent of the profluralin and 78 percent of the trifluralin after 4 months. Degradation of both herbicides increased with incubation time for the first 3 months and decreased slightly thereafter. Generally there was more extensive degradation (percent and in number of products formed) of profluralin than trifluralin under the conditions tested. More degradation products were detected for both herbicides under aerobic conditions than under anaerobic conditions.     

2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid mineralization in amended soil

The application of municipal biosolid or liquid hog manure to agricultural soils under laboratory conditions at 20 degrees C influenced the fate of the herbicide 2,4-D [2,4-(dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid] in soil. When 2,4-D was added to soil at agronomic rates immediately after the addition of manure or biosolids to a coarse-textured soil, the percentage of 2,4-D mineralized at 100 days was about 47% for both treatments, compared to only 31% for control soils without amendments. The enhanced 2,4-D mineralization as a result of amendment addition was due to an increased heterotrophic microbial activity, with the greatest increases in soil respiration occurring for soils amended with biosolids. When additions of 2,4-D were delayed for one, two, or four weeks after the amendments were applied, the additions of amendments generally reduced 2,4-D mineralization in soil, particularly for manure, indicating that the effect of amendments on enhancing soil microbial activities diminished over time. In contrast, the mineralization of 2,4-D in control soils was less dependent on when 2,4-D was applied in relation to pre-incubations of soil for zero, one, two, or four weeks. The effect of manure on decreasing 2,4-D mineralization in specific soils was as large as the effect of soil texture on differences in 2,4-D mineralization across soils. Because manure was not found to impact 2,4-D sorption by soil, it is possible that 2,4-D mineralization decreased because 2,4-D transformation products were strongly sorbed onto organic carbon constituents in manure-amended soils and were therefore less accessible to microorganisms. Alternatively, microorganisms were less likely to metabolize the herbicide because they preferentially consumed the type of organic carbon in manure that is a weak sorbent for 2,4-D.     

Effect of fluctuating soil humidity on in situ bioavailability and degradation of atrazine

This study elucidates the effect of fluctuating soil moisture on the co-metabolic degradation of atrazine (6-chloro-N²-ethyl-N⁴-isopropyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) in soil. Degradation experiments with ¹⁴C-ring-labelled atrazine were carried out at (i) constant (CH) and (ii) fluctuating soil humidity (FH). Temperature was kept constant in all experiments. Experiments under constant soil moisture conditions were conducted at a water potential of −15 kPa and the sets which were run under fluctuating soil moisture conditions were subjected to eight drying-rewetting cycles where they were dried to a water potential of around −200 kPa and rewetted to −15 kPa. Mineralization was monitored continuously over a period of 56 d. Every two weeks the pesticide residues in soil pore water (PW), the methanol-extractable pesticide residues, the non-extractable residues (NER), and the total cell counts were determined. In the soil with FH conditions, mineralization of atrazine as well as the formation of the intermediate product deisopropyl-2-hydroxyatrazine was increased compared to the soil with constant humidity. In general, we found a significant correlation between the formation of this metabolite and atrazine mineralization. The cell counts were not different in the two experimental variants. These results indicate that the microbial activity was not a limiting factor but the mineralization of atrazine was essentially controlled by the bioavailability of the parent compound and the degradation product deisopropyl-2-hydroxyatrazine.     

Enhancement of PAH biomineralization rates by cyclodextrins under Fe(III)-reducing conditions

Amendment of a soil slurry with low concentrations of a cyclodextrin, hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPCD), (0.05-0.5 g l(-1)) increased the phenanthrene mineralization rate of a microbial consortium by 25% under Fe(III)-reducing conditions. Although a higher concentration (5.0 g l(-1)) resulted in a faster initial rate of mineralization, mineralization ceased after 25 days with maximum mineralization 17% lower than the control (no HPCD). At lower HPCD concentrations, mineralization was still taking place at day 76. Although pH should affect Fe(III) solubility, mineralization rates at pH 6.0 and 8.0 were comparable. Decreasing the temperature reduced the extent and rate of mineralization, but mineralization rates at 10 degrees C were still 60% of that obtained at 30 degrees C.     

Comparative studies of the fate of atrazine‐14C and pentachlorophenol‐14C in various laboratory and outdoor soil‐plant systems

Abstract

Mass balance and fate of atrazine‐ ¹⁴C and pentachlorophenol‐ ¹⁴C (PCP‐ ¹⁴C) were studied in short‐term tests in a closed aerated laboratory soil‐plant system, using two concentrations in soil and two plant species, as well as under outdoor conditions for one vegetation period. In the laboratory, for both pesticides bioaccu‐mulation factors of radiocarbon taken up by the roots into plants were low. They were higher for lower (1 ppm) than for higher soil concentrations (6 ppm for atra‐zine, 4 ppm for pentachlorophenol) and varied with the plant species. Mineralization to ¹⁴CO₂ in soil was negatively related to soil concentration only for PCP‐ ¹⁴C. Conversion rates in soil including the formation of soil‐bound residues were higher for the lower concentrations of both pesticides than for the higher ones; conversion rates in plants were species‐dependent. In 14 terms of CO₂ formation and of conversion rates, PCP was less persistent in soil than was atrazine. For both pesticides, laboratory data on conversion and mineralization gave a rough prediction of their persistence in soil under long‐term outdoor conditions, whereas bio‐accumulation factors in plants under long‐term outdoor conditions could not be predicted by short‐term laboratory experiments.     

A model for the formation and degradation of bound residues of the herbicide 14C-isoproturon in soil.

The humic monomer catechol was reacted with 14C-isoproturon and some of its metabolites, including 14C-4-isopropylaniline, in aqueous solution under a stream of oxygen. Only in the case of 14C-4-isopropylaniline, incorporation in oligomers, in fulvic acid-like polymers, and in humic acid-like polymers was observed. The main oligomer was identified by mass spectrometry as 4,5-bis-(4-isopropylphenylamino)-3,5-cyclohexadiene-1,2-dione. Oligomers and polymers containing bound 14C-4-isopropylaniline were subjected to biodegradation studies in a loamy agricultural soil during 55 days by quantifying 14CO2 evolved. In all cases, significant mineralization rates could be determined, which, however, were much smaller than those of free 14C-4-isoproturon and free 14C-4-isopropylaniline in the same soil.     

Effect of organic amendment on degradation and formation of bound residues of methabenzthiazuron in soil under constant climatic conditions

Abstract

The degradation of [phenyl‐U‐¹⁴C]methabenzthiazuron (MBT) and formation of bound residues in the surface soil of an orthic luvisol were studied under constant climatic conditions (20°C, 40 % of maximum water holding capacity). In two treatments (with and without preincubation in the soil) maize straw was amended at a rate of 1.5 g/100 g dry soil in addition to the application of MBT. The mineralization of uniformly labeled maize straw was studied simultaneously. In additional flasks, MBT was incubated at 0, 10 and 30°C with and without addition of maize straw.

The turnover of the amended maize straw led to an enhanced dissipation of MBT which was mainly due to the formation of bound residues. This corresponded to a higher microbial activity in the soil after straw amendment and the intensive mineralization of the radiolabeled maize straw. About 2–3 % of the applied radioactivity from the radiolabeled maize straw was measured in the soil microbial biomass 10 and 40 days after application whereas ¹⁴C from MBT was only incorporated into soil microbial biomass in the treatments with straw amendment.

Within the bound residue fractions relatively more radioactivity was measured in fulvic and humic acids after straw amendment. Increasing temperatures promoted the dissipation of MBT and the formation of bound residues in both treatments, but without amendment of maize straw these effects were far less pronounced. The laboratory scale degradation experiment led to similar results as were found in a corresponding lysimeter study. Differences that were observed could be explained by different temperature regimes of the experiments and time of aging in soil.