METABOLISM OF IPRODIONE IN ADAPTED AND NONADAPTED SOILS - EFFECT OF SOIL INOCULATION WITH AN IPRODIONE-DEGRADING ARTHROBACTER STRAIN

Soils previously treated with iprodione degraded the fungicide more ra pidly than previously-untreated samples of the same soils. Addition of an iprodione-degrading Arthrobacter sp. culture to a previously-untre ated soil enhanced the degradation rate of the fungicide. In previousl y-untreated soils, chemical and biological transformations of iprodion e led to different products. In previously-treated soils and in previo usly-untreated soils enriched with Arthrobacter sp., the product obtai ned from the hydrolysis of exocyclic urea function of iprodione was tr ansformed initially into 3,5-dichlorophenylurea acetic acid, which was then further degraded to 3,5-dichloroaniline. Experiments showed that soil adaptation leading to enhanced iprodione degradation was related to the ability of microorganisms to make the first transformation ste p. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.