Characterization of the biodegradation, bioremediation and detoxification capacity of a bacterial consortium able to degrade the fungicide thiabendazole.

Thiabendazole (TBZ) is a persistent fungicide used in the post-harvest treatment of fruits. Its application results in the production of contaminated effluents which should be treated before their environmental discharge. In the absence of efficient treatment methods in place, biological systems based on microbial inocula with specialized degrading capacities against TBZ could be a feasible treatment approach. Only recently the first bacterial consortium able to rapidly transform TBZ was isolated. This study aimed to characterize its biodegradation, bioremediation and detoxification potential. The capacity of the consortium to mineralize C-benzyl-ring labelled TBZ was initially assessed. Subsequent tests evaluated its degradation capacity under various conditions (range of pH, temperatures and TBZ concentration levels) and relevant practical scenarios (simultaneous presence of other postharvest compounds) and its bioaugmentation potential in soils contaminated with increasing TBZ levels. Finally cytotoxicity assays explored its detoxification potential. The consortium effectively mineralized the benzoyl ring of the benzimidazole moiety of TBZ and degraded spillage level concentrations of the fungicide in aqueous cultures (750 mg L) and in soil (500 mg kg). It maintained its high degradation capacity in a wide range of pH (4.5-7.5) and temperatures (15-37 °C) and in the presence of other pesticides (ortho-phenylphenol and diphenylamine). Toxicity assays using the human liver cancer cell line HepG2 showed a progressive decrease in cytotoxicity, concomitantly with the biodegradation of TBZ, pointing to a detoxification process. Overall, the bacterial consortium showed high potential for future implementation in bioremediation and biodepuration applications.