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A master's thesis from Aalborg University
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A Bioaugmentation Approach to Pesticide Bioremediation: Pesticide Degradation and Crop Protection

Author

Term

4. term

Publication year

2020

Submitted on

Pages

83

Abstract

Dicamba er et ukrudtsmiddel, som bruges i kornmarker og græsarealer til at bekæmpe en- og flerårigt bredbladet ukrudt. Det binder sig ikke til jordpartikler og er let opløseligt i vand, hvilket gør det meget mobilt i jorden med risiko for at forurene grundvandet. Det kan også spredes fra behandlede marker til nabomarker og forårsage skade. Formålet med dette studie var at finde organismer, der kan nedbryde dicamba, og samtidig – i samarbejde med Københavns Universitet – undersøge, om de samme organismer kan fungere som biologiske kontrolmidler (mikroorganismer, der kan hæmme plantesygdomme) mod den svampepatogene plantepatogen Fusarium culmorum. Der blev udviklet et fast vækstmedium, der selekterer for pesticidnedbrydende organismer, samt gennemført nedbrydningsforsøg i flydende medium. Det førte til fundet af fire bakteriearter, der kan nedbryde dicamba. For at teste, om de også kunne beskytte planter, blev de påviste nedbrydere anvendt i sandforsøg med hvedekimplanter sammen med F. culmorum ved først at overtrække frøene med svampen og derefter med de mulige biokontrolagenter. Opsætningerne blev inkuberet i to uger og derefter vurderet ud fra sygdomssymptomer. Samtidig blev forskellige koncentrationer af dicamba afprøvet på hvedefrø for at afgøre, om dicamba kunne indgå i sandforsøgene; 6,25 mg/L blev valgt som en egnet arbejdskoncentration. Ingen af de testede organismer udviste en dobbelt funktion: Selvom nogle kunne nedbryde dicamba, reducerede de ikke symptomerne forårsaget af F. culmorum på hvedekimplanter i betydelig grad.

Dicamba is a herbicide used in grain crops and grasslands to control annual and perennial broadleaf weeds. It does not bind to soil particles and dissolves easily in water, which makes it highly mobile in soil and raises the risk of groundwater contamination. It can also spread from treated fields to neighboring fields and cause damage. This study aimed to find organisms that can degrade dicamba and, in collaboration with Copenhagen University, test whether those same organisms could act as biological control agents (microbes that suppress plant disease) against the fungal plant pathogen Fusarium culmorum. A solid growth medium was devised to select for pesticide-degrading organisms, and degradation tests were run in liquid culture. These approaches identified four bacterial species able to degrade dicamba. To assess possible dual function, the degraders were tested in sand assays with wheat seedlings alongside F. culmorum by first coating the seeds with the fungus and then with the candidate biocontrol strains. The setups were incubated for two weeks and disease symptoms were scored. In parallel, different dicamba concentrations were tested on wheat seed to determine whether dicamba could be included in the sand assays; 6.25 mg/L was chosen as a suitable working concentration. None of the tested organisms demonstrated both functions: although some degraded dicamba, they did not significantly reduce F. culmorum symptoms on wheat seedlings.

[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]