Engineered bacteria teams clean up old pesticide in wetland mud and cut methane
Liu M, Su X, Huang X, Yang X, Chen Y
Soil Health
Coastal wetlands and marsh edges you walk through can hold decades-old pesticide residues in their mud, and microbes like these could help clean them up while curbing methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Scientists built two teams of bacteria that eat a long-lived banned pesticide called lindane, then tested them in wetland mud. Both teams broke down a big share of the pesticide, and the mud also gave off less methane, a gas that warms the climate. One bacterium in the mix, Enterococcus, settled in well and may pick up pesticide-eating genes from its neighbors.
Key Findings
Inoculated sediment reduced γ-HCH to 63.0% (consortium M) and 56.1% (consortium Y13) of the starting concentration.
Inoculation significantly suppressed the CO2-reduction methanogenesis pathway (P < 0.05), with a lower CH4/CO2 ratio than non-inoculated controls.
The degradation gene pceA was enriched in Y13 and found on contigs alongside mobile genetic elements; Enterococcus colonized inoculated sediments and may gain degradation genes via horizontal gene transfer.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Teams of soil bacteria assembled by researchers broke down a persistent banned pesticide called lindane in wetland sediment, cutting it to roughly 56-63% of its starting level. They also lowered methane production, so cleanup could come with a climate benefit.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Top-down/bottom-up consortia achieve robust γ-HCH degradation and reduced methanogenic contribution in wetlands.
Generalist non-obligate organochlorine-degrading bacteria (ODB) play an important role in the bioremediation of γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH), yet their ecological roles and functional mechanisms...
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