Biodegrading Two Pesticide Residues in Paddy Plants and the Environment by a Genetically Engineered Approach

Accumulating pesticide (or herbicide) residues in soils become one of the seriously environmental problems. This study focused on identifying the removal of two widely-used pesticides isoproturon (IPU) and acetochlor (ACT) by a genetically developed paddy (or rice) plant overexpressing an uncharacterized glycosyltransferase (IRGT1). IRGT1 conferred plant resistance to isoproturon/acetochlor, which was manifested by attenuated cellular injure and alleviated toxicity of rice growth under isoproturon/acetochlor stress. A short-term study showed that IRGT1-transformed lines removed 33.3−48.3% and 39.8−53.5% from the growth medium and remained only 59.5−72.1% and 58.9−70.4% isoproturon and acetochlor in plants compared to untransformed rice, respectively. This phenotype was well confirmed by IRGT1-expression in yeast (Pichia pastoris) which grew better and contained less isoproturon/acetochlor than control cells. A long-term study showed that isoproturon/acetochlor concentrations at all developmental stages we...