Microbial Diversity and Enzyme Activity as Indicators of Permethrin-Exposed Soil Health

Abstract

Owing to their wide range of applications in the control of ticks and insects in horticulture, forestry, agriculture and food production, pyrethroids pose a significant threat to the environment, including a risk to human health. Hence, it is extremely important to gain a sound understanding of the response of plants and changes in the soil microbiome induced by permethrin. The purpose of this study has been to show the diversity of microorganisms, activity of soil enzymes and growth of Zea mays following the application of permethrin. This article presents the results of the identification of microorganisms with the NGS sequencing method, and of isolated colonies of microorganisms on selective microbiological substrates. Furthermore, the activity of several soil enzymes, such as dehydrogenases (Deh), urease (Ure), catalase (Cat), acid phosphatase (Pac), alkaline phosphatase (Pal), β-glucosidase (Glu) and arylsulfatase (Aryl), as well as the growth of Zea mays and its greenness indicators (SPAD), after 60 days of growth following the application of permethrin, were presented. The research results indicate that permethrin does not have a negative effect on the growth of plants. The metagenomic studies showed that the application of permethrin increases the abundance of Proteobacteria, but decreases the counts of Actinobacteria and Ascomycota. The application of permethrin raised to the highest degree the abundance of bacteria of the genera Cellulomonas, Kaistobacter, Pseudomonas, Rhodanobacter and fungi of the genera Penicillium, Humicola, Iodophanus, Meyerozyma. It has been determined that permethrin stimulates the multiplication of organotrophic bacteria and actinomycetes, decreases the counts of fungi and depresses the activity of all soil enzymes in unseeded soil. Zea mays is able to mitigate the effect of permethrin and can therefore be used as an effective phytoremediation plant.

Role of Soil Microbiota Enzymes in Soil Health and Activity Changes Depending on Climate Change and the Type of Soil Ecosystem

“…The conversion of C, N, and P sources into soluble compounds is a major process involving different soil enzymes. However, other microbial enzymes, such as dehydrogenases (DHA), catalases (CAT), PO, LIP, and carboxylesterases (EST), are also important for soil quality and can be used as biological soil quality indicators [57][58][59]. In the next subsections, the most important microbial enzymes will be presented.…”

Impact of Cypermethrin (Arpon G) on Soil Health and Zea mays Growth: A Microbiological and Enzymatic Study

“…The prepared material was mixed, and then 3 kg portions were weighed into 3.5 dm 3 polyethylene pots. A detailed soil characterization is presented in the publications [31,35,36].…”

“…The isolation of DNA from soil samples, amplification of 16S rRNA and ITS gene fragments, and sequencing were conducted as previously described [31,35]. The genetic material was sequenced for the V3-V4 region using an Illumina MiSeq sequencer (Genomed S.A., Warsaw, Poland).…”

“…The growth and development of crop plants are mainly correlated with the soil condition designated for their cultivation, and a reliable indicator of changes in the soil is its microbiome [27,28]. Microorganisms inhabiting the soil constitute a diverse group of organisms that is also involved in nutrient conversion and the detoxification of organic and inorganic pollutants [29][30][31]. They therefore contribute to maintaining the proper functioning and health of the soil [32].…”