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Degradation of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2,4-D) by a Hypersaline Microbial Mat and Related Functional Changes in the Mat Community

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Abstract

Microbial mats possibly possess degradation capacities for haloorganic pollutants because of their wide range of different functional groups of microorganisms combined with extreme diurnal changes in pH, oxygen, and sulfide gradients. In this study, 20 mg/l of the chlorinated herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) was applied to a pristine hypersaline cyanobacterial mat from Guerrero Negro, Mexico, under a light regime of 12 h dark/12 h light (600 μmol photons/m2s). The loss of 2,4-D was followed by chemical GC analysis; functional changes within the mat were determined with microelectrodes for oxygen, photosynthesis, pH, and sulfide. The depletion of 2,4-D due to photooxidation or sorption processes was checked in control experiments. Within 13 days, the light/dark incubated mats degraded 97% of the herbicide, while in permanent darkness only 35% were degraded. Adsorption of 2,4-D to the mat material, agar, or glass walls was negligible (4.6%), whereas 21% of the herbicide was degraded photochemically. The 2,4-D removal rate in the light/dark incubations was comparable to values reported for soils. The phototrophic community of the mat was permanently inhibited by the 2,4-D addition by 17% on average. The sulfate reduction in the entire mat and the respiration in the photic zone were inhibited more strongly but returned to original levels. Since at the end of the experiment the photosynthetic and respiratory activity of the mats were almost as high as in the beginning and 2,4-D almost completely disappeared, we conclude that the examined mats represent a robust and effective system for the degradation of the herbicide where probably the aerobic heterotrophic population is a major player in the degradation process.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Prof. Ferran Garcia-Pichel, who provided the mat samples and the experimental infrastructure in his laboratory; he and Dr. Susanne Neuer are especially thanked for their hospitality during the measurements in Phoenix. Anja Eggers, Gabi Eickert, and Ines Schröder are gratefully thanked for the production of the microsensors. Furthermore, we acknowledge Dr. Raeid Abed and Brian Wade for their help during the measurements, and Dr. Peter Stief as well as Dr. Henk Jonkers for their comments on the manuscript. This research was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, grant RU 458/18) and the Max-Planck-Society.

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  1. Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (FIOSH), Friedrich-Henkel-Weg 1-25, D-44149, Dortmund, Germany

    S. Grötzschel & D. de Beer

  2. Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Str. 9-11, D-26111, Oldenburg, Germany

    J. Köster

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  1. S. Grötzschel
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Correspondence to S. Grötzschel.

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Grötzschel, S., Köster, J. & de Beer, D. Degradation of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2,4-D) by a Hypersaline Microbial Mat and Related Functional Changes in the Mat Community. Microb Ecol 48, 254–262 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-003-2020-9

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