Biodegradation of imazapyr in typical soils in Zhejiang Province, China

The degradation of imazapyr in non-sterile and sterile soils from four sampling sites in Zhejiang, China was studied. The results showed that the half-lives of imazapyr in non-sterile soils were in the range of 30 to 45 d, while 81 to 133 d in sterile (by autoclaving) soils. It means the rate constants of imazapyr under non-sterile conditions were 2.3-4.4 times faster than that under sterile (by autoclaving) conditions, evidently indicating that the indigenous microorganisms in soil play an important role in the degradation of imazapyr. The different sterilization methods could result in different degradation rates of imazapyr. The heat of sterilization of soil largely decreased the degradation. However, the sterile treatment of soil by sodium azide had a different effect from that by autoclaving. Further more, the mechanism was also discussed. Biodegradation in four non-sterile soils accounted for 62% to 78% of imazapyr degradation. In contrast, less than 39% of imazapyr degradation was associated with chemical mechanisms. Therefore, the degradation mechanism was predominantly involved in biology including organisms and microorganisms in soil. Two imazapyr-degrading bacterial strains were isolated in enrichment culture technique and they were identified as Pseudomonas fluorescenes biotype II (ZJX-5) and Bacillus cereus (ZJX-9), respectively. When added at a concentration of 50 microg/g in mineral salts medium (MSM), ZJX-5 and ZJX-9 could degrade 81% and 87% imazapyr after 48 h of incubation. For the treatment of incorporation of ZJX-5 or ZJX-9 into soil, the degradation rate enhanced 3-4 fold faster than that for control samples, which showed an important value in quick decontamination of imazapyr in soil.