Biodegradation and Utilization of the Pesticides Glyphosate and Carbofuran by Two Yeast Strains

Abstract

The widespread use of synthetic pesticides in agricultural practice is associated with the risk of environmental pollution, damage to non-target organisms, and harm to the health of consumers due to the presence of pesticides in the resulting products. Metabolically active microbial species play a significant role in eliminating harmful chemicals from the environment. The two yeast strains used in this study are Trichosporon cutaneum R57 and Candida tropicalis V1. Both strains showed growth and development in the presence of the pesticides glyphosate and carbofuran used as the sole carbon sources. The gas-chromatographic analysis performed showed that C. tropicalis V1 reached 76% of 0.3 g/L glyphosate biodegradation in 192 h. At the same time, the amount of glyphosate decreased by about 58% in the culture of T. cutaneum R57. During the glyphosate biodegradation process, the presence of the intermediate metabolites methylglycine and glycine was revealed. Strain T. cutaneum R57 demonstrated nearly total biodegradation of 0.3 g/L carbofuran in 192 h of cultivation. Strain C. tropicalis V1 showed a slow decrease (23.4%) of the same amount of carbofuran during 192 h. Pyruvic acid and carbofuran-7-phenol have been found to be intermediate metabolites in the breakdown of carbofuran. This report provides new information on the potential of yeasts to participate in environmental pesticide cleanup processes.