Isolation, identification and characteristics of an endophytic quinclorac degrading bacterium Bacillus megaterium Q3

PLoS One. 2014 Sep 22;9(9):e108012. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108012. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

In this study, we isolated an endophytic quinclorac-degrading bacterium strain Q3 from the root of tobacco grown in quinclorac contaminated soil. Based on morphological characteristics, Biolog identification, and 16S rDNA sequence analysis, we identified strain Q3 as Bacillus megaterium. We investigated the effects of temperature, pH, inoculation size, and initial quinclorac concentration on growth and degrading efficiency of Q3. Under the optimal degrading condition, Q3 could degrade 93% of quinclorac from the initial concentration of 20 mg/L in seven days. We analyzed the degradation products of quinclorac using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The major degradation products by Q3 were different from those of previously identified quinclorac degrading strains, which suggests that Q3 may employ new pathways for quinclorac degradation. Our indoor pot experiments demonstrated that Q3 can effectively alleviate the quinclorac phytotoxicity in tobacco. As the first endophytic microbial that is capable of degrading quinclorac, Q3 can be a good bioremediation bacterium for quinclorac phytotoxicity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacillus megaterium / classification
  • Bacillus megaterium / metabolism*
  • DNA, Ribosomal / genetics
  • Herbicides / metabolism*
  • Hydrolysis
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Phylogeny
  • Quinolines / metabolism*
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics

Substances

  • DNA, Ribosomal
  • Herbicides
  • Quinolines
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
  • quinclorac

Associated data

  • GENBANK/KJ599677

Grants and funding

This work was partially supported by key project funds of State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau of China (SR0558), Special national public welfare industry research (201303031) and funds from Hunan Agricultural University. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.