Environmental Detoxification of Benzimidazole Fungicide Fuberidazole via Microbial Action in Liquid Cultures

Mitigation of the environment from hazardous pesticides is clamant for all living things. The behavior of the fungicide Fuberidazole was investigated toward biodegradation. Biotransformation experiments were conducted by bacterial strains isolated from soils including, <i>Xanthomonas citri</i> (XC), and <i>Pseudomonas syringae</i> (PS), and fungal strains including, <i>Aspergillus flavus</i> (AF), <i>Aspergillus niger</i> (AN) and <i>Penicillium chrysogenum</i> (PC). Analysis and quantification of Fuberidazole degradation and its metabolites were performed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry and UV-visible spectrophotometry. <i>Pseudomonas syringae</i> and <i>Penicillium chrysogenum</i> displayed great bioremedial potential and degraded 91 and 86% of Fuberidazole after 35 days. Significant metabolites such as Benzimidazole 2-carboxylic acid, Benzimidazole, and 1-(1H-benzimidazole-2-yl)ethanone were produced in the current experiment. The increasing order of half-life for all strains was obtained as, PS (10.3) < PC (10.6) < AN (11) < AF (11.9) = XC (11.9) days. Experimental results demonstrated the capability of bacterial cells to efficiently utilize Fuberidazole as a nutrition source and the significance of favorable environmental conditions for its dissipation.