Biotransformation of chlorothalonil by strain Stenotrophomonas acidaminiphila BJ1 isolated from farmland soil

The chlorothalonil is a widely used fungicide while the contamination of soil and water environments by this chemical causes potential threats to the biodiversity. Given the metabolic potential of soil microorganisms, there is a need for developing microbiological approaches to degrade persistent compounds, such as chlorothalonil, in the contaminated sites. Here in this study, we isolated a bacterial strain (namely, BJ1) capable of degrading chlorothalonil from a chlorothalonil-contaminated farmland soil in the Shandong Province, China. Using 16S rDNA gene sequencing, morphological and biological characteristics, we identified the strain BJ1 as Stenotrophomonas acidaminiphila. The strain BJ1 utilizes chlorothalonil as a sole carbon source. At initial concentrations of 50, 100, 200, 300 mg l-1, it degraded 91.5%, 89.4%, 86.5 and 83.5% of chlorothalonil after 96 h of inoculation under optimum conditions (30 °C and pH 7.0), respectively. Two metabolites, methyl-2, 5, 6-trichloro-3-cyano-4-...