Biodegradation of neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid by restriction enzyme mediated integration (REMI) generated Trichoderma mutants.

REMI (restriction enzyme-mediated integration) technique was employed to construct Trichoderma atroviride strain T23 mutants with degrading capability of neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid. The plasmid pBluescript II KS-hph used for integration in REMI mutants was confirmed by PCR and Southern hybridization. Among 153 transformants, 57% of them have showed higher neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid, degradation ability than the wild strain T23 (p<0.01). More specifically, seven single-copied T. atroviride T23 transformants have confirmed a 30% higher degradation rate than their parent isolate. Among all transformed mutants, a 95% imidacloprid degradation rate was identified as the highest. This study, thus, provided an effective approach for improving neonicotinoid insecticide-degrading capability using REMI transformed T. atroviride mutants.