Catabolic profiles dynamics during the bioremediation process of chlorimuron-ethyl contaminated soil by Methanolivorans CHL1T.

Excessive application of the long-term herbicide chlorimuron-ethyl has resulted in series of environmental problems. Bioaugmentation usually a useful method in contaminated-environment remediation. In this study, the strain Methanolivorans CHL1T with highly chlorimuron-ethyl degrading efficiency was employed to assess its remediation effects on chlorimuron-ethyl-contaminated soil. The chlorimuron-ethyl residues in the soils and the survival condition of strain CHL1T were detected. Meanwhile, the shifts of soil microbial catabolic profile were investigated by MicroResp™ analysis for the first time. The results indicated that strain CHL1T significantly shorten the half-life (6-17 days) of chlorimuron-ethyl and removed 95-100% of chlorimuron-ethyl by the end of the experiment. Meanwhile, the strain CHL1 could inhabit in soil steadily (4.2-4.7 × 107 per g dry soil) for a long time. The inoculation with strain CHL1 significantly shorten and relieved the disturbance effects of chlorimuron-ethyl on soil CLPPs. After inoculation with strain CHL1 60 days, the basal respiration rates and Shannon-Wiener indices of groups S10+ and S30+ had recovered to the control level. Even in the high chlorimuron-ethyl-treated groups (S100), the basal respiration rates and Shannon-Wiener indices were significantly higher in S100+ than that in S100-. These results show the outstanding remediation effects of strain CHL1 and provide new insights into the assessment of the remediation process of chlorimuron-ethyl contaminated soils.