Evaluate the Toxicity of Pyrethroid Insecticide Cypermethrin before and after Biodegradation by Lysinibacillus cresolivuorans Strain HIS7

Plants (Basel). 2021 Sep 14;10(9):1903. doi: 10.3390/plants10091903.

Abstract

Herein, bacterial isolate HIS7 was obtained from contaminated soil and exhibited high efficacy to degrade pyrethroid insecticide cypermethrin. The HIS7 isolate was identified as Lysinibacillus cresolivuorans based on its morphology and physiology characteristics as well as sequencing of 16S rRNA. The biodegradation percentages of 2500 ppm cypermethrin increased from 57.7% to 86.9% after optimizing the environmental factors at incubation condition (static), incubation period (8-days), temperature (35 °C), pH (7), inoculum volume (3%), and the addition of extra-carbon (glucose) and nitrogen source (NH4Cl2). In soil, L. cresolivuorans HIS7 exhibited a high potential to degrade cypermethrin, where the degradation percentage increased from 54.7 to 93.1% after 7 to 42 days, respectively. The qualitative analysis showed that the bacterial degradation of cypermethrin in the soil was time-dependent. The High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the soil extract showed one peak for control at retention time (R.T.) of 3.460 min and appeared three peaks after bacterial degradation at retention time (R.T.) of 2.510, 2.878, and 3.230 min. The Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis confirmed the successful degradation of cypermethrin by L. cresolivuorans in the soil. The toxicity of biodegraded products was assessed on the growth performance of Zea mays using seed germination and greenhouse experiment and in vitro cytotoxic effect against normal Vero cells. Data showed the toxicity of biodegraded products was noticeably decreased as compared with that of cypermethrin before degradation.

Keywords: Lysinibacillus sp.; a pyrethroid insecticide; biodegradation; cypermethrin; in-vitro cytotoxicity; seed germination; toxicity.