Open AccessInducible hydroxylation and demethylation of the herbicide isoproturon by Cunninghamella elegans
Author(s) -
Hangler Martin,
Jensen Bo,
Rønhede Stig,
Sørensen Sebastian R.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2006.00599.x
Subject(s) - hydroxylation , demethylation , metabolite , strain (injury) , chemistry , enzyme , biochemistry , biotransformation , degradation (telecommunications) , fungus , biology , botany , gene , telecommunications , gene expression , anatomy , computer science , dna methylation
Abstract A screening of 27 fungal strains for degradation of the phenylurea herbicide isoproturon was performed and yielded 15 strains capable of converting the herbicide to polar metabolites. The zygomycete fungus Cunninghamella elegans strain JS/2 isolated from an agricultural soil converted isoproturon to several known hydroxylated metabolites. In addition, unknown metabolites were produced in minor amounts. Inducible degradation was indicated by comparing resting cells pregrown with or without isoproturon. This shows that strain JS/2 is capable of partially degrading isoproturon and that one or more of the enzymes involved are inducible upon isoproturon exposure.