Removal and Ecotoxicity of 2,4-D and MCPA in Microbial Cultures Enriched with Structurally-Similar Plant Secondary Metabolites (original) (raw)

Water

The removal of contaminants from the environment can be enhanced by interactions between structurally-related plant secondary metabolites (PSMs), selected xenobiotics and microorganisms. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of selected PSMs (ferulic acid—FA; syringic acid—SA) on the removal of structurally-similar phenoxy herbicides (PHs): 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA). The study also examines the biodegradation potential of soil bacteria, based on the occurrence of functional tdfA-like genes, and the ecotoxicity of the samples against two test species: Sinapis alba L. and Lepidium sativum L. The microbial cultures spiked with the PSMs demonstrated higher phenoxy acid removal: 97–100% in the case of 2,4-D and 99%–100% for MCPA. These values ranged from 5% to 100% for control samples not amended with FA or SA. The higher herbicide removal associated with PSM spiking can be attributed to acceleration of the microbi...

The stimulating role of syringic acid, a plant secondary metabolite, in the microbial degradation of structurally-related herbicide, MCPA

PeerJ

The ability of microorganisms to degrade xenobiotics can be exploited to develop cost-effective and eco-friendly bioremediation technologies. Microorganisms can degrade almost all organic pollutants, but this process might be very slow in some cases. A promising way to enhance removal of recalcitrant xenobiotics from the environment lies in the interactions between plant exudates such as plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) and microorganisms. Although there is a considerable body of evidence that PSMs can alter the microbial community composition and stimulate the microbial degradation of xenobiotics, their mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. With this in mind, our aim was to demonstrate that similarity between the chemical structures of PSMs and xenobiotics results in higher micropollutant degradation rates, and the occurrence of corresponding bacterial degradative genes. To verify this, the present study analyses the influence of syringic acid, a plant secondary metaboli...

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