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Title: BIODEGRADATION OF IMIDACLOPRID BY SOIL MICROORGANISMS

Author
item ANHALT, JENNIFER - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Moorman, Thomas

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/22/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Imidacloprid (NTN) [1-[(96-chloro-3-pyridinyl)methyl] -N-nitro-2-imidazolidinimine] is a systemic insecticide used to control biting and sucking insects. It is very persistent in the environment with a half life of greater than 100 days. Our objectives in this study were to determine the biological and chemical factors governing NTN persistence. Soil-free enrichments (made from soil slurries) are being monitored for NTN degradation. Enrichments were made using four different surface soils. Two grams of each soil was put into carbon-limited, nitrogen-limited, and general broth, all containing 83 mg L-1 of NTN. Dilutions were made from these soil slurries to yield soil-free enrichments which contain a mixture of fungi and bacteria. Two enrichments, NTN-13 and NTN-16, show promise in degrading NTN. After two weeks 43% and 16% of the NTN applied to NTN 13 and NTN 16, respectively, was degraded. Chloronicotinic acid, which is a degradation product of NTN, was also detected in these samples and not in the others.