Environmental contaminant 2-chloro-N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-N-(methoxymethyl)acetamide remediation via Xanthomonas axonopodis and Aspergillus niger

Mycoremediation of the novel fungicide ametoctradin by different agricultural soils and accelerated degradation utilizing selected fungal strains

Accelerating safety assessments for novel agrochemicals is imperative, advocating for in vitro setups to present pesticide biodegradation by soil microbiota before field studies. This approach enables metabolic profile generation in a controlled laboratory environment eliminating extrinsic factors. In the current study, ten different soil samples were utilized to check their capability to degrade Ametoctradin by their microbiota. Furthermore, five different fungal strains (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, and Penicillium chrysogenum) were utilized to degrade Ametoctradin in aqueous media. A degradation pathway was established using the metabolic patterns created during the biodegradation of Ametoctradin. In contrast to 47% degradation (T1/2 of 34 days) when Ametoctradin was left in the soil samples, the fungal strain Aspergillus fumigatus demonstrated 71% degradation of parent Ametoctradin with a half-life (T1/2) of 16 days. In conclusion, soil rich in microorganisms effectively cleans Ametoctradin-contaminated areas while Fungi have also been shown to be an effective, affordable, and promising way to remove Ametoctradin from the environment.

Fungal-Bacterial Combinations in Plant Health under Stress: Physiological and Biochemical Characteristics of the Filamentous Fungus Serendipita indica and the Actinobacterium Zhihengliuella sp. ISTPL4 under In Vitro Arsenic Stress

Fungal-bacterial combinations have a significant role in increasing and improving plant health under various stress conditions. Metabolites secreted by fungi and bacteria play an important role in this process. Our study emphasizes the significance of secondary metabolites secreted by the fungus Serendipita indica alone and by an actinobacterium Zhihengliuella sp. ISTPL4 under normal growth conditions and arsenic (As) stress condition. Here, we evaluated the arsenic tolerance ability of S. indica alone and in combination with Z. sp. ISTPL4 under in vitro conditions. The growth of S. indica and Z. sp. ISTPL4 was measured in varying concentrations of arsenic and the effect of arsenic on spore size and morphology of S. indica was determined using confocal microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The metabolomics study indicated that S. indica alone in normal growth conditions and under As stress released pentadecanoic acid, glycerol tricaprylate, L-proline and cyclo(L-prolyl-L-valine). Similarly, d-Ribose, 2-deoxy-bis(thioheptyl)-dithioacetal were secreted by a combination of S. indica and Z. sp. ISTPL4. Confocal studies revealed that spore size of S. indica decreased by 18% at 1.9 mM and by 15% when in combination with Z. sp. ISTPL4 at a 2.4 mM concentration of As. Arsenic above this concentration resulted in spore degeneration and hyphae fragmentation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results indicated an increased spore size of S. indica in the presence of Z. sp. ISTPL4 (18 ± 0.75 µm) compared to S. indica alone (14 ± 0.24 µm) under normal growth conditions. Our study concluded that the suggested combination of microbial consortium can be used to increase sustainable agriculture by combating biotic as well as abiotic stress. This is because the metabolites released by the microbial combination display antifungal and antibacterial properties. The metabolites, besides evading stress, also confer other survival strategies. Therefore, the choice of consortia and combination partners is important and can help in developing strategies for coping with As stress.

Microbial detoxification of bifenthrin insecticide by selected fungal strains and optimizing conditions using response surface methodology for agricultural sustainability

Bifenthrin is a type I broad spectrum pyrethroid insecticide widely employed in urban and agricultural settings with little knowledge about its biodegradation. Bifenthrin was subjected to a 35 days incubation period in which it was degraded by five fungal strains named as Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Penicillium chrysogenum, and Lasiodiplodia theobromae. Penicillium chrysogenum was found to be extremely effective in degrading bifenthrin up to 85%. Furthermore, response surface methodology (RSM) with Box-Behnken design is applied to optimize the degradation conditions with varying pH, temperature (°C), and incubation time (days). The p value < 0.05 in the response surface design and analysis of variance showed the significance of the reaction parameters. The ideal conditions for Penicillium chrysogenum to break down bifenthrin (10 mgL-1) were found to be 30 °C, pH 7, and a 24 days incubation period. In eutrophic conditions and a glucose-rich media, this fungus co-metabolized bifenthrin. By hydrolytically cleaving the carboxyl ester bond, the Penicillium chrysogenum breaks down bifenthrin, as shown by the chromatogram of four metabolites from GCMS. The biodegradation of bifenthrin by strain Penicillium chrysogenum and its use in agronomic situations are now well understood as per the findings of this study.

Development and validation of an LC-MS/MS assay with multiple stage fragmentation for the quantification of alachlor in McF-7 cells

Alachlor is one of the most widely used herbicides and can also be a carcinogenic compound. It is of great significance to establish a sensitive analytical method for the determination of alachlor in the environment and organisms. In this study, a high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry cubed (LC/MS³) method was developed and validated to quantify alachlor in human breast cancer cells (McF-7 cells). The cell samples were processed by simple protein precipitation with acetonitrile, then the analytes were separated on a Waters AcQuity® UPLC BEH (2.1 × 50 mm I.D, 1.7 μm) column using the gradient elution with solvent A (0.1 % formic acid) and solvent B (acetonitrile) at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. MS³ detection in positive ion mode was used to detect the analytes. The MRM³ transitions at m/z 270.1 → 238.0 → 162.1 and 312.2 → 238.1 → 147.2 were used to determine alachlor and butachlor, respectively. The run time for each sample was only 4 min. This method was validated for various parameters including accuracy, precision, selectivity, linearity, lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ), etc. The LC/MS³ assay was linear in the concentration range 0.5-50 ng/mL (R² ≥ 0.995). For all concentrations, the precision is < 9.49 %, and the intra-day and intra-day accuracy is < 13.05 %. Cytotoxic potential of alachlor against McF-7 cell lines was measured by MTT method after 48 h of incubation. For alachlor, half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) on McF-7 cells was 87.95 µg/mL. This method was successfully applied to cellular pharmacokinetic study of alachlor in McF-7 cells after administration with a dose of 20 μg/mL.

Contributions of Beneficial Microorganisms in Soil Remediation and Quality Improvement of Medicinal Plants

Medicinal plants (MPs) are important resources widely used in the treatment and prevention of diseases and have attracted much attention owing to their significant antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and other activities. However, soil degradation, caused by continuous cropping, excessive chemical fertilizers and pesticide residues and heavy metal contamination, seriously restricts the growth and quality formation of MPs. Microorganisms, as the major biota in soil, play a critical role in the restoration of the land ecosystem. Rhizosphere microecology directly or indirectly affects the growth and development, metabolic regulation and active ingredient accumulation of MPs. Microbial resources, with the advantages of economic efficiency, harmless to environment and non-toxic to organisms, have been recommended as a promising alternative to conventional fertilizers and pesticides. The introduction of beneficial microbes promotes the adaptability of MPs to adversity stress by enhancing soil fertility, inhibiting pathogens and inducing systemic resistance. On the other hand, it can improve the medicinal quality by removing soil pollutants, reducing the absorption and accumulation of harmful substances and regulating the synthesis of secondary metabolites. The ecological and economic benefits of the soil microbiome in agricultural practices are increasingly recognized, but the current understanding of the interaction between soil conditions, root exudates and microbial communities and the mechanism of rhizosphere microecology affecting the secondary metabolism of MPs is still quite limited. More research is needed to investigate the effects of the microbiome on the growth and quality of different medicinal species. Therefore, the present review summarizes the main soil issues in medicinal plant cultivation, the functions of microbes in soil remediation and plant growth promotion and the potential mechanism to further guide the use of microbial resources to promote the ecological cultivation and sustainable development of MPs.

Anaerobic biodegradation and detoxification of chloroacetamide herbicides by a novel Proteiniclasticum sediminis BAD-10T

Chloroacetamide herbicides (CAAHs) are important herbicides that were widely used to control agricultural weeds. However, their mass applications have seriously contaminated environment, and they are toxic to living beings. CAAHs are easy to enter anoxic environments such as subsoil, wetland sediment, and groundwater, where CAAHs are mainly degraded by anaerobic organisms. To date, there are no research on the anaerobic degradation of CAAHs by pure isolate and toxicity of anaerobic metabolites of CAAHs. In this study, the anaerobic degradation kinetics and metabolites of CAAHs by an anaerobic isolate BAD-10^T and the toxicity of anaerobic metabolites were studied. Isolate BAD-10^T could degrade alachlor, acetochlor, propisochlor, butachlor, pretilachlor and metolachlor with the degradation kinetics fitting the pseudo-first-order kinetics equation. The degradation rates of CAAHs were significantly affected by the length of N-alkoxyalkyl groups, the shorter the N-alkoxyalkyl groups, the higher the degradation rates. Four metabolites 2-ethyl-6-methyl-N-(ethoxymethyl)-acetanilide (EMEMA), N-(2-methyl-6-ethylphenyl)-acetamide (MEPA), N-2-ethylphenyl acetamide and 2-ethyl-N-carboxyl aniline were identified during acetochlor degradation, and an anaerobic catabolic pathway of acetochlor was proposed. The toxicity of EMEMA and EMPA for zebrafish, Arabidopsis and Chlorella ellipsoidea were obviously lower than that of acetochlor, indicating that the anaerobic degradation of acetochlor by isolate BAD-10^T is a detoxification process. The work reveals the anaerobic degradation kinetics and catabolic pathway of CAAHs and highlights a potential application of Proteiniclasticum sediminis BAD-10^T for bioremediation of CAAHs residue-contaminated environment.

Fungal and bacterial assisted bioremediation of environmental toxicant (N-[2-[3-chloro-5-(trifluoromethyl)-2-pyridinyl] ethyl]-2-(trifluoromethyl) benzamide) holding benzamidic genesis elucidating the eco-friendly strategy

Fluopyram (FLP) containing benzamidic genesis utilized for seed detoxification and as a foliar application is associated with low profound toxicity in mammals but long-term toxicology investigations have revealed that FLP can stimulate tumor growth. FLP attenuation has been the first time scrutinized employing microorganisms originally identified from soils. Biodegrative assays of four fungal strains; Aspergillus fumigatus (AFu), Aspergillus terreus (AT), Aspergillus flavus (AF), Aspergillus niger (AN), and three bacterial strains: Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) Streptococcus pyogenes (SPy), and Escherichia coli (EC), were employed. Ten milligrams per liter FLP concentration was made employing separately microbe and analyzed for 35 days. The analytical technique was inclusive of ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometric and high-performance liquid chromatography procedure endeavored to test FLP biodegradation. SP and AT exhibited maximal potentiality to metabolize FLP. HPLC is indicative of several metabolites formations. FLP degradation by AFu, EC, SPy, AN, AF, AT, SP was observed to be 24.2%, 82.7%, 89.8%, 90.7%, 91.3%, 95.4%, and 99.3%, explicating the efficacy of all strains employed in FLP degradation. Current investigations are indicative of significant bioremediation strategies for xenobiotic mitigation. Furthermore, the current examinations are inclusive of the augmentation of biodegradative assays to be utilized on a large scale for efficient environmental management cost-effectively and sustainably.

Keystone taxa-mediated bacteriome response shapes the resilience of the paddy ecosystem to fungicide triadimefon contamination

The increasing input of fungicides has emerged as a global concern for agroecosystem stability and sustainability. Agroecosystem resilience has been linked to microbiome response, however, is not well understood. Focusing on a widespread triazole-class fungicide triadimefon in the paddy ecosystem, we characterized that the soils and sediments were dominant triadimefon reservoirs with the peak level at 195 μg kg^-1 and 31.3 μg kg^-1, respectively, but essential for the resilience of paddy ecosystem to triadimefon. In paddy simulation models, the half-life of triadimefon in soil-sediment was 8.4-28.9 days, while it was prolonged to 86.6-115.5 days after elimination of resident microbial community. Phospholipid fatty acid profiling and high-throughput sequencing showed that the distinctive bacterial community responses contributed to variable degradation of triadimefon in paddy soils and sediments. Sphingomonas and Xanthomonas were identified as positive responders of the keystone taxa in the responsive bacteriome, whereas Enterobacter were negative responders that declined over time. Synthetic assemblages combined with quantitative polymerase chain reaction further validated that Sphingomonas and Xanthomonas were involved in sustaining soil-sediment resilience to triadimefon contamination. Collectively, our results revealed that the shaping of soil and sediment bacteriomes was responsible for the resilience of the paddy agroecosystem to fungicide contamination.

Effective Remediation Strategy for Xenobiotic Zoxamide by Pure Bacterial Strains, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Streptococcus pneumoniae

Zoxamide, a class IV hazardous fungicide, is perilous for the environment due to its highly persistent nature. Up till the current date, there are no reports on the biodegradation of zoxamide. The scarcity of knowledge in this domain led to the present research to evaluate the biodegradation of this benzamide fungicide by three bacterial strains, Escherichia coli (EC), Streptococcus pyogenes (SPy), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP). Biotransformation of zoxamide was scrutinized in nutrient broth assemblies for a period of 28 days followed by UV-visible spectrophotometer and GC-MS analysis of the metabolites. The results exhibited a low to medium biodegradation potential of the bacterial cells to metabolize zoxamide. The highest biotransformation percentage was observed by E. coli to be 29.8%. The order of half-life calculated for the degradation results was EC (42.5) < SPy (58.7) < SP (67.9) days. GC-MS analysis indicated the formation of several metabolites including, 2-(3,5-dichloro-4-methylphenyl)-4-ethyl-4-methyl-4H-1,3-oxazin-5(6H)-one, 3,5-dichloro-N-(3-hydroxy-1-ethyl-1-methyl--2-oxopropyl)-4-methylbenzamide and 3,5-dichloro-4-methylbenzamide. The research could influence the biotreatment strategies for the environmentally friendly eradication of xenobiotics.

Efficient fungal and bacterial facilitated remediation of thiencarbazone methyl in the environment

Triazole herbicide, Thiencarbazone-methyl (TCM) applied on different crops for weedicidal activity is associated with an inherent toxicity towards bladder and urinary functionality. TCM has been first time explored for its biodegradative behavior utilizing microbes, previously isolated from soils. Simulated bio-transformation assemblies of five fungal strains; Aspergillus flavus (AF), Penicillium chrysogenum (PC), Aspergillus niger (AN), Aspergillus terrus (AT), Aspergillus fumigatus (AFu) and two bacterial strains: Xanthomonas citri (XC), Pseudomonassyringae (PS), were utilized. 10 mg/L TCM concentration was set up utilizing each microbe and analysed for 42 days. TCM bio-degradation was evaluated by UV-Visible spectrophotometery and gas chromatography mass spectroscopy. Aspergillus terrus (R² = 0.86) and Penicillium chrysogenum (R² = 0.88) exhibited highest capability to metabolize TCM while forming intermediate metabolites including; 2,4-dihydro-[1,2,4] triazol-3-one, semicarbazide and urea, methyl 4-isocyanatosulfonyl-5-methylthiophene-3-carboxylate. TCM degradation by all strains AF, AFu, AN, PC, AT, PS and XC was found to be 74, 74, 81, 95, 98, 90 and 95%, respectively after 42 days elucidating the effectiveness of all the utilized strains in degrading TCM. Current investigations can impact vital bioremediation approaches for pesticides mitigation from the ecological compartments. Furthermore, present research can be extended to the optimization of the bio-deteriorative assays to be employed on the practical scale for the successful management of environment through sustainable and cost effective ways.

Remedial potential of bacterial and fungal strains (Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium chrysogenum) against organochlorine insecticide Endosulfan

Endosulfan, an organochlorine insecticide, is known to cause detrimental effects to the environment and human health due to its excessive usage. Its highly toxic nature calls for an environmental-friendly approach for its detoxification. Environmental transformation of Endosulfan was assessed through biodegradation by isolated and cultured soil microbes (Bacillus subtilis (BS), Aspergillus niger (AN), Aspergillus flavus (AF) and Penicillium chrysogenum (PC)). Degradation of 10 mg/L Endosulfan was determined in aqueous solution at regular time intervals and analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for 35 days. BS and AN displayed substantial potential to degrade Endosulfan and subsequently transform it into its daughter products (95 and 77%, respectively). Endosulfan transformation followed first-order reaction kinetics. Chromatogram peaks revealed less toxic metabolites by Endosulfan transformation (Endosulfan diol, Endosulfan ether, Endosulfan hydroxyether and Endosulfan lactone). Half-life of Endosulfan obtained by various strains utilised in the experiments was in the order, PC (69) > AF (34.6) > AN (17.3) > BS (11.5) days. Statistical analysis was performed in MINITAB to evaluate the significance of results. Bioaugmentation of contaminated sites with such efficient microbes can facilitate rapid pesticide transformation and decontamination of the environment.

Selective carbon sources and salinities enhance enzymes and extracellular polymeric substances extrusion of Chlorella sp. for potential co-metabolism

This study investigated the extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) and enzyme extrusion of Chlorella sp. using seven carbon sources and two salinities for potential pollutant co-metabolism. Results indicated that the levels of biomass, EPS and enzymes of microalgae cultured with glucose and saccharose outcompeted other carbon sources. For pigment production, glycine received the highest chlorophyll and carotene, up to 10 mg/L. The EPS reached 30 mg/L, having doubled the amount of protein than carbohydrate. For superoxide dismutase and peroxidase enzymes, the highest concentrations were beyond 60 U/ml and 6 nmol/d.ml, respectively. This amount could be potentially used for degrading 40% ciprofloxacin of concentration 2000 µg/L. When increasing salinity from 0.1% to 3.5%, the concentrations of pigment, EPS and enzymes rose 3 to 30 times. These results highlighted that certain carbon sources and salinities could induce Chlorella sp. to produce EPS and enzymes for pollutant co-metabolism and also for revenue-raising potential.

Fungicide isopyrazam degradative response toward extrinsically added fungal and bacterial strains

The current research is a pioneer in the evaluation of isopyrazam biodegradation, which has been performed utilizing soil-isolated microbes. Biodisintegrative assays of pure fungal strains, namely Aspergillus flavus (AF), Penicillium chrysogenum (PC), Aspergillus niger (AN), Aspergillus terreus (AT), and Aspergillus fumigatus (AFu), and bacterial strains, namely Xanthomonas axonopodis (XA) and Pseudomonas syringae (PS), were utilized. Initial isopyrazam concentration (10 mg/L) was prepared with an individual microbial suspension and monitored for 35 days. Isopyrazam biotransformation was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively by UV-visible spectrophotometery and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. P. syringae (R²  = 0.90) and X. axonopodis (R²  = 0.88) displayed maximal potential to metabolize the fungicide (86% and 80%, respectively) while forming intermediate metabolites, including 3-difluoromethyl-1-methyl-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxylic acid ((S)-9-hydroxy-9-isopropyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,4-methanonaphthalen-5-yl)-amide, 3-difluoromethyl-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxylic acid, and 3-difluoromethyl-1-methyl-1H-pyrazole-4-amide. Isopyrazam degradation by all strains, AT, PC, AFu, AN, AF, XA, and PS, was found to be 11%, 18%, 21%, 21%, 18%, 30%, 80%, and 86%, respectively, after 35 days, elucidating the effectiveness of all the utilized strains in degrading isopyrazam at varying rates. The descending order of half-lives (days) obtained is as follows: AT (56.8) > PC (44.7) > AFu (40.7) > AN (39.6) > AF (32.6) > XA (28.1) > PS (21) days. Current research can influence imperative and significant environment-friendly bioremedial strategies for xenobiotic eradication from the ecological compartments.