Interaction between pesticide and soil microorganisms and their degradation: A molecular approach

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Abstract

The use of pesticide in crops is meant to protect plants against harmful insects and increases crop yields. Pesticides are biologically active compounds, and an unintended consequence of its application may influence physicochemical proprieties of soil and lead to significant changes in microbial populations and activities influencing microbial ecological balance affecting soil fertility and metabolic activity of soil microbial communities. Inactivation of nitrogen-fixing and phosphorus-solubilizing microorganisms is observed in pesticide-contaminated soils. Recent studies show that some pesticides disturb molecular interactions between plants and N-fixing rhizobacteria and consequently inhibit the vital process of biological nitrogen fixation. Similarly, many studies show that pesticides reduce activities of soil enzymes that are key indicators of soil health. The applied pesticides may also influence many biochemical reactions such as mineralization of organic matter, nitrification, denitrification, ammonification, redox reactions, methanogenesis, etc. The fate of pesticides applied in agricultural ecosystems is governed by the transfer and degradation processes and their interaction with soil microorganisms. The increasing reliance of sustainable agriculture on pesticide has led to concern about their ecotoxicological effects influencing microbial populations and enzyme activities, which may serve as indicators of soil quality. In this chapter, we attempt to analyze the impacts of pesticides on soil microbial communities, soil biochemical reactions, and molecular approach of degradation of pesticide by soil microorganisms.

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Parween, T., Bhandari, P., Jan, S., & Raza, S. K. (2016). Interaction between pesticide and soil microorganisms and their degradation: A molecular approach. In Plant, Soil and Microbes: Volume 2: Mechanisms and Molecular Interactions (pp. 23–43). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29573-2_2

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