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Anaerobic Degradation of Propanil in Soil and Sediment Using Mixed Bacterial Culture

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Abstract

The widespread use of the herbicide, propanil, causes severe environmental problems. In this study, the effects of propanil on the bacterial community in a sediment slurry were determined. Moreover, the degradation of the herbicide by pure and mixed cultures was first conducted under anaerobic conditions. The results showed that propanil caused significant changes in the bacterial community under anaerobic conditions. Four bacterial strains, i.e., Geobacter sp. Pr-1, Paracoccus denitrificans Pr-2, Pseudomonas sp. Pr-3, and Rhodococcus sp. Pr-4, isolated from the an enrichment sediment slurry were the first pure cultures that degraded propanil and 3,4-dichloroaniline (3,4-DCA) under anaerobic conditions. Some individual isolates showed the slow degradation of propanil and 3,4-DCA, but the mixture of the four strains increased the degradation rates of both compounds. The mixed culture of these isolates transformed more than 90% of propanil within 10 days in liquid media with the amendment of dextrose, glucose, or acetate. The determination of degradation pathway showed that propanil was transformed to 3,4-DCA and some other products before degrading completely. This study provides valuable information on the effects of propanil on the bacterial community and the synergistic degradation of propanil under anaerobic conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training for the scientific theme (Code: B2019.SPD.04). The authors would like to thank them for funding this study. We are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers, whose suggestions helped to improve this manuscript.

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    1. Dong Thap University, 783 Pham Huu Lau Street, Cao Lanh City, Dong Thap Province, Vietnam

      Nguyen Thi Oanh & Ha Danh Duc

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    1. Nguyen Thi Oanh and Ha Danh Duc have equally contributed to the preparation of the manuscript and be considered as the co-first authors.

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      1. Nguyen Thi Oanh
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      Oanh designed and performed the experiments. Duc was involved in planning, supervised the work, and also performed the experiments. Moreover, Duc performed the calculations, wrote the manuscript, and provided critical feedback.

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      Correspondence to Nguyen Thi Oanh.

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      Oanh, N.T., Duc, H.D. Anaerobic Degradation of Propanil in Soil and Sediment Using Mixed Bacterial Culture. Curr Microbiol 78, 1499–1508 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-021-02419-7

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