Functional assembly of bacterial communities with activity for the biodegradation of an organophosphorus pesticide in the rape phyllosphere

Abstract

Although most pesticides sprayed on terrestrial plants remain on their leaf surfaces, the relationship between leaf-associated microbial populations and pesticide degradation remains unclear. Here we examined changes in the bacterial community composition in the rape phyllosphere after treatment with dichlorvos, an organophosphorus pesticide. Results indicate that the bacterial community showed marked changes after treatment. We evaluated the rate of dichlorvos degradation by a natural microbial community on rape leaves and found that more dichlorvos was degraded on microbial-population-inhabited leaves than on surface-sterilized leaves. Six dichlorvos-degrading bacteria with 16S rRNA gene s..