Isolation and Characterization of Carbendazim-Degrading Bacteria in Rice Paddy Soil in Can Tho, Vietnam

Abstract

Carbendazim is one of the most commonly used fungicides in Vietnam in recent decades. The intensive application of this pesticide has led to the increase of its presence in soil, surface water, and ground water. This study reports the isolation and characterization of carbendazim-degrading bacterial isolates obtained from pesticide-treated rice paddy soil in Can Tho, Vietnam. Three bacterial isolates capable of utilizing carbendazim as sole carbon source and performing chemotaxis towards carbendazim were isolated. All of them were able to degrade 90% of carbendazim at concentration of 200 mg L-1 after 6 days of incubation. These isolates were identified as Pseudomonas sp. CT-VT7, Acinetobacter sp. CT-VT9, and Stenotrophomonas sp. CT-VT13 based on their 16S-rRNA gene sequences. The results indicate that these strains are potential candidates for carbendazim biodegradation and could be used for applied study on carbendazim removal in the environment.