Degrader density determines spatial variability of 2,6-dichlorobenzamide mineralisation in soil

Ole Rüdiger Sjøholm, Jens Aamand, Jan Sørensen, Ole Nybroe

    20 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The metabolite 2,6-dichlorobenzamide (BAM) is a frequent groundwater pollutant produced during degradation of the herbicide 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile (dichlobenile). Spatial variability of BAM mineralisation is uncharacterized in surface soil, however, and factors controlling the heterogeneity remain unknown. We addressed these issues by sample-to-sample comparisons of BAM mineralisation rates and a range of soil characteristics at spatial scales ranging from meters to centimetres. For mineralisation assays nano-molar concentrations of labelled BAM were added to determine mineralisation rates under realistic conditions. We found a significant variability of BAM mineralisation which increased with decreasing spatial scale. BAM mineralisation rates were correlated to the density of BAM-degrading bacteria but not to water content, TOC, NH4+, NO3-, or pH. The genus Aminobacter, which contains the only BAM degraders known, was detected in MPN samples of BAM degraders by a specific PCR assay targeting the 16S rRNA gene, confirming a role of Aminobacter in BAM mineralisation.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalEnvironmental Pollution
    Volume158
    Issue number1
    Pages (from-to)292-298
    Number of pages7
    ISSN0269-7491
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jan 2010

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