Abstract
The insecticide λ-cyhalothrin was incubated with planktonic and biofilm cultures of the fungus Cunninghamella elegans. 19F nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy demonstrated that the compound was initially biosorbed to the biomass and more slowly degraded by the fungus. Furthermore, the presence of trifluoromethyl-containing metabolites was observed. Analysis of culture extracts by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) identified non-fluorinated metabolites that suggested the likely catabolic pathway. The hydroxylated metabolites were probably generated from the action of cytochromes P450 (CYPs), as the presence of CYP inhibitors resulted in the absence of biodegradation. Planktonic cells were measurably faster at degrading the pesticide compared with biofilm.
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Acknowledgements
Yannick Ortin kindly assisted with the NMR analyses.
Funding
WPB was funded by the European Commission, grant number FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN-607787. PLMS was funded by the CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, CAPES Foundation/PDSE/Process 88881.131595/2016-01.
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Palmer-Brown, W., de Melo Souza, P.L. & Murphy, C.D. Cyhalothrin biodegradation in Cunninghamella elegans. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 1414–1421 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3689-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3689-0