Biodegradation of bensulphuron-methyl by a novel Penicillium pinophilum strain, BP-H-02.

A fungal strain able to rapidly degrade bensulphuron-methyl (BSM), called BP-H-02, was isolated for the first time from soil that had been contaminated with BSM for several years. BP-H-02 can use BSM as the sole carbon and energy source for growth in a mineral salt medium. Based on morphological and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) analysis, BP-H-02 was identified as Penicillium pinophilum. Under optimal conditions (pH 6.5, temperature 30 °C and 200 mg/L VSSinoculum), more than 87% of the initially added BSM (50mg/L) was degraded after 60 h. Metabolites were identified as 2-amino-4,6-dimethoxypyrimidine and 1-(4,6-dimethoxypyrimidin-2-yl) urea by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and a possible degradation pathway was deduced. In a soil bioremediation experiment, inoculation of soil with BP-H-02 promoted the degradation of BSM more effectively than did the control. These results revealed that BP-H-02 can biodegrade bensulphuron-methyl efficiently and could potentially be used to bioremediate sulphonylurea herbicides contamination.