Constitutive mineralization of low concentrations of the herbicide linuron by a Variovorax sp. strain |
| |
Authors: | Sebastian R Sørensen Allan Simonsen & Jens Aamand |
| |
Institution: | Department of Geochemistry, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Copenhagen K, Denmark |
| |
Abstract: | The mineralization of the herbicide linuron at concentrations of μg and mg L−1 was studied in liquid batch experiments with Variovorax sp. strain SRS16. The strain was highly efficient at mineralizing a range of linuron concentrations (0.002–10 mg L−1) with 20–60% of the added 14C-ring-labeled linuron metabolized to 14CO2 within hours to days depending on the initial linuron concentration and incubation period. At mg L−1 linuron concentrations the mineralization activity by SRS16 was inducible and a shift to constitutive mineralization activity was apparent with a reduction in the linuron concentration to μg L−1 levels. This study revealed that strain SRS16 is a promising candidate for bioaugmentation of water or soil resources contaminated with low linuron concentrations. |
| |
Keywords: | phenylurea herbicides low concentrations biodegradation |
|