Biodegradiation of herbicide (glyphosate) by soil bacteria

Abstract

Herbicides were used to control weeds in agricultural systems generally but since the application have practiced year by years, thousands of tons of it have been introduced to the environment making it one of environmentally problems due to its toxicity. The aims of this study were to isolates soil bacteria from soil samples treated by Roundup with the active compound of glyphosate (N-phosphonomethylglycine) and also identify soil bacteria degrading glyphosate. In this study, soil sample was taken from the tobacco farm with the history of glyphosate application for about 5 years at the depth of 5 to 10cm situated in Seberang Takir, Terengganu. Screenings of isolates were carried out by enrichment culture method and rate of glyphosate degradation was measured by optical density by the wavelength of 600nm and also colony count method. Within this study, 5 isolated bacteria (from soil sample) were isolated randomly from plates. Graphs produced by optical density and plate count methods shows that there was glyphosate utilization by Isolate I (identified as Corynebacterium kutsceri).