Isolation and Characterization of Carbendazim- degrading Rhodococcus erythropolis djl-11

Carbendazim (methyl 1H-benzimidazol-2-yl carbamate) is one of the most widely used fungicides in agriculture worldwide, but has been reported to have adverse effects on animal health and ecosystem function. A highly efficient carbendazim-degrading bacterium (strain dj1-11) was isolated from carbendazim-contaminated soil samples via enrichment culture. Strain dj1-11 was identified as Rhodococcus erythropolis based on morphological, physiological and biochemical characters, including sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene. In vitro degradation of carbendazim (1000 mg?L21) by dj1-11 in minimal salts medium (MSM) was highly efficient, and with an average degradation rate of 333.33 mg?L21?d21 at 28uC. The optimal temperature range for carbendazim degradation by dj1-11 in MSM was 25–30uC. Whilst strain dj1-11 was capable of metabolizing cabendazim as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen, degradation was significantly (P,0.05) increased by addition of 12.5 mM NH4NO3. Changes in MSM pH (4–9), substitution of NH4NO3 with organic substrates as N and C sources or replacing Mg2+ with Mn2+, Zn2+ or Fe2+ did not significantly affect carbendazim degradation by dj1-11. During the degradation process, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) detected the metabolites 2-aminobenzimidazole and 2-hydroxybenzimidazole. A putative carbendazim-hydrolyzing esterase gene was cloned from chromosomal DNA of djl