Effect of carbendazim and pencycuron on soil bacterial community

Soil bacterial composition is used as one of the important indicators of negative effects of the use of pesticides in agriculture. Very little is known on the effects of fungicides, particularly carbendazim and pencycuron on soil bacterial community. In this study, laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the effects of various concentrations of carbendazim and pencycuron on diversity of bacterial community in soils collected from strawberry field and incubated at different temperature conditions. The degradation rate of fungicides both in sterile and non-sterile soils were also investigated. Residues of fungicides were measured using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the change in bacterial community was examined by comparing the 16S rDNA bands on patterns by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The dissipation of carbendazim was affected by concentration applied, whereas that of pencycuron was affected by both concentration applied and incubation temperature. The microbial community could recover to its previous composition after 126 days of cultivation with the application of 10 mg/kg of carbendazim but not with the application of a high concentration, 100 mg/kg, of pencycuron. From cluster analysis, the bacterial community structure showed approximately 50% similarity throughout the experimental period, which indicated that the soil microbiota composition was not stable throughout the 120 cultivation days.