Enhanced degradation microbiology

Field studies with single applications of phenoxyalkanoic acid herbicides have indicated that breakdown is rapid under temperature and moisture conditions that favour microbiological activity (5). Enhanced degradation of these herbicides, under field conditions, was first noted in the late 1940s. The use of plant bioassay procedures, led to the discovery that the persistence of 2,4-D, but not 2,4,5-T, was decreased,by pretreatment of the soil with 2,4-D (26, 27). This enhanced breakdown was later confirmed using (14C)2,4-D and radiochemical analytical techniques (29). The breakdown of the (14C)2,4-D being more rapid in soil from the treated plots, tested 8 months after the last field application, than in soil from plots treated for the first time. 

A second step in the study of the microbiology of enhanced degradation involved an attempt to enumerate the microbial population in soil capable of beneficially catabolizing these insecticides. 

Pesticide-Degrading Microbial Populations. Innovative microbiological investigations have paved the way for increased understanding of the mechanisms of enhanced degradation. One of the... 

Chaudhuri, B. K. Wiesmann, U. (1995). Enhanced anaerobic degradation of benzene by enrichment of mixed microbial culture and optimization of the culture medium. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 43, 178-87. 

Hickey, W. J.,Searles, D. B. Focht, D. D. (1993). Enhanced mineralization ofpolychlorinated biphenyls in soil inoculated with chlorobenzoate-degrading bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 59, 1194—200. 

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