Combining Culture-Dependent and Independent Approaches for the Optimization of Epoxiconazole and Fludioxonil-Degrading Bacterial Consortia

Epoxiconazole (EPO) and fludioxonil (FLU) are two widely used fluorinated pesticides known to be highly persistent and with high ecotoxicological potential, turning them into pollutants of concern. This work aimed to optimize two degrading bacterial consortia, previously obtained from an agricultura...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microorganisms (Basel) 2021-10, Vol.9 (10), p.2109
Main Authors: Alexandrino, Diogo A. M., Mucha, Ana P., Tomasino, Maria Paola, Almeida, C. Marisa R., Carvalho, Maria F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Bacteria
Biodegradation
Bioremediation
Cellulose acetate
Consortia
culture-dependent approaches
defluorination
Enrichment media
Epoxiconazole
Fludioxonil
Gene amplification
Investigations
metabarcoding
Microorganisms
Optimization
persistent pesticides
Pesticides
Pollutants
rRNA 16S
Sodium
Strains (organisms)
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Summary:Epoxiconazole (EPO) and fludioxonil (FLU) are two widely used fluorinated pesticides known to be highly persistent and with high ecotoxicological potential, turning them into pollutants of concern. This work aimed to optimize two degrading bacterial consortia, previously obtained from an agricultural soil through enrichment with EPO and FLU, by characterizing the contribution of their corresponding bacterial isolates to the biodegradation of these pesticides using both culture-dependent and independent methodologies. Results showed that a co-culture of the strains Hydrogenophaga eletricum 5AE and Methylobacillus sp. 8AE was the most efficient in biodegrading EPO, being able to defluorinate ca. 80% of this pesticide in 28 days. This catabolic performance is likely the result of a commensalistic cooperation, in which H. eletricum may be the defluorinating strain and Methylobacillus sp. may assume an accessory, yet pivotal, catabolic role. Furthermore, 16S rRNA metabarcoding analysis revealed that these strains represent a minority in their original consortium, showing that the biodegradation of EPO can be driven by less abundant phylotypes in the community. On the other hand, none of the tested combinations of bacterial strains showed potential to biodegrade FLU, indicating that the key degrading strains were not successfully isolated from the original enrichment culture. Overall, this work shows, for the first time, the direct involvement of two bacterial species, namely H. eletricum and Methylobacillus sp., in the biodegradation of EPO, while also offering insight on how they might cooperate to accomplish this process. Moreover, the importance of adequate culture-dependent approaches in the engineering of microbial consortia for bioremediation purposes is also emphasized.
ISSN:2076-2607
2076-2607
DOI:10.3390/microorganisms9102109