Biodegradation of paclobutrazol by a microbial consortium isolated from industrially contaminated sediment

Biodegradability of the plant growth retardant paclobutrazol by a microbial consortium in which Pseudomonas was the predominant strain was investigated in batch culture. The consortium which had been isolated from an industrially contaminated sediment was proven to be useful for the treatment of effluents containing paclobutrazol. Paclobutrazol was degraded by the pure isolated strain of Pseudomonas sp. as well as the microbial consortium. Paclobutrazol was utilized as the sole source of carbon and energy. Sixty percent of the paclobutrazol was degraded by the microbial consortium from an initial concentration of 54 mgL^-1 within 48 h and more than 98% of an initial concentration of 3.4 mg L^-11 was degraded within 36 h. The optimum temperature and pH were determined to be 30°C and 7.0, respectively. A pure strain of a bacterium, isolated from the enrichment culture was identified as Pseudomonas sp. The microbial consortium was tolerant of high pH and could degrade paclobutrazol faster than the pure strain. The degradation rate of this plant growth regulator in an aerobicenvironment was greater than that under anaerobic conditions. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.