Simultaneous toxic action of zinc and alachlor resulted in enhancement of zinc uptake by the filamentous fungus Paecilomyces marquandii Original Research Article

Microbial ability vary when pollutants exist together in the environment in comparison to the presence of single toxic compound. The influence of alachlor and zinc on the growth of the filamentous fungus Paecilomyces marquandii and its ability to eliminate alachlor and zinc has been studied. Their simultaneous presence in the polluted environment is very probable. In liquid cultures the pesticide (50 mg/l) was removed with the efficiency of 85% within 7 days. Beginning from the third day of culturing two derivatives of alachlor were found: N-(2ʹ,6ʹ-diethylphenyl)-N-metoxymethyl-acetamide and unstable 2-chloro-N-(2ʹ,6ʹ-diethylphenyl)-N-hydroxymethyl-acetamide, the first time detected as product of alachlor metabolisation by filamentous fungus. The herbicide elimination was not inhibited by zinc up to 1.0 mM of the metal content in the culture medium, 5.0–7.5 mM of the metal limited alachlor depletion by 30–50%, whereas a higher zinc concentration stopped this process. Zinc content in P. marquandii mycelium during the incubation in growth medium reached 10–20 mg/g of dry weight and was increased up to 99 mg/g by alachlor, however due to its presence a strong inhibitory effect on growth was observed. It was postulated that the increase in zinc binding by the growing mycelium of P. marquandii in the presence of the pesticide was connected with the changes in the wall and membrane composition induced by simultaneous toxic interaction of zinc and alachlor. Only 15–20% of bound zinc was detected in the cell wall of the fungus, whereas the amount of zinc loaded in the wall of mycelium originating from the cultures incubated in the alachlor presence increased to 60%. Additionally, changes in the profile of fatty acids of cultures with pesticide and metal addition were observed.