Objective To investigate how acetamiprid, a new insecticide, affects the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ATPase and the SOD isozyme patterns in two G- bacteria, E. coli K12 and Pse.FH2, and one G+ bacterum, B. subtilis. Methods The SOD, CAT, and ATPase specific activities of cell lysates were determined spectrophotometrically at 550 nm, 240 nm, and 660 nm, respectively, with kits A001, A016, and A007. SOD isozyme patterns were detected by native PAGE analysis. Results SOD and CAT activities in the tested bacteria increased significantly in a concentration-dependent manner after different concentrations of acetamiprid were applied. The activity of SOD in B. subtilis and Pse.FH2 was stimulated and reached the highest level after treatment with 100 mg/L acetamiprid for 0.5 h. For Pse.FH2, there was another stimulation of SOD activity after acetamiprid application for about 8.0 h and the second stimulation was stronger than the first. The stimulation by acetamiprid showed a relative lag for E. coli K12. Acetamiprid seemed to exhibit a similar effect on CAT activity of the two G- bacteria and had an evident influence on ATPase activity in the three bacteria within a relatively short period. Only one SOD isozyme was detectable in Pse.FH2 and B. subtilis, while different isozyme compositions in E. coli could be detected by native PAGE analysis. Conclusion Acetamiprid causes a certain oxidative stress on the three bacteria which may not only elevate SOD and CAT activities but also generate new SOD isozymes to antagonize oxidative stress. However, this oxidative stress lasts for a relatively short time and does not cause a long-term damage.
The effect of acetanilide herbicide mefenacet on soil microbial commun ities was studied using paddy soil samples with different short-term treatments. The culturable bacteria(plate counts), dehydrogenase activity and changes in co mmunity structure (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis(DGGE) analysis) were used for biological community assessments. Mefenacet was a significant stimulus to cultural aerobic bacteria and dehydrogenase activity while Sphingobacterium m ultivorum Y1, a bacterium efficiently degrading the mefenacet, only induced the increasing colony-forming unit(CFU) of bacteria but little effect on dehydrogena se activity during the whole experiment. The degree of similarity between the 16 S rDNA profiles of the communities was quantified by numerically analyzing the D GGE band patterns. Similarity dendrograms showed that the microbial community st ructures of the mefenacet-treated and non-treated soils were not significantly d ifferent. But supplement of S. multivorum Y1 could increase the diversity of the microbial community in the mefenacet-polluted paddy soil. This work is a new at tempt to apply the S. multivorum Y1 for remediation of the mefenacet-polluted en vironments.
