Analysis of herbicide biodegradation by native bacteria isolated from rice crop soils in Chaco, Argentina

Abstract

In Argentina, weed management in rice and other crops is often done with herbicides that persist in the soil for a long time. The incorrect and indiscriminate use of these agrochemicals has caused environmental problems, such as soil, groundwater and surface water contamination. Clomazone (CLM), an herbicide from the chemical group of oxazolidinones, is a selective pre- and post-emergence herbicide indicated for application in rice. Imazapyr and imazapic (IMR+IMC) are two herbicides that belong to the group of imidazolinones which interfere weed growth by inhibiting the action of the plant enzyme acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS). The objective of this work was to analyze the growth kinetics (GK) of bacterial strains isolated from rice crop soils with CLM and IMR+IMC as the only carbon source, and to analyze their biodegradation over time.