Bioaccumulation and catabolism of prometryne in green algae

Investigation on organic xenobiotics bioaccumulation/biodegradation in green algae is of great importance from environmental point of view because widespread distribution of these compounds in agricultural areas has become one of the major problems in aquatic ecosystem. Also, new technology needs to be developed for environmental detection and re-usage of the compounds as bioresources. Prometryne as a herbicide is widely used for killing annual grasses in China and other developing countries. However, overuse of the pesticide results in high risks to contamination to aquatic environments. In this study, we focused on analysis of bioaccumulation and degradation of prometryne in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a green alga, along with its adaptive response to prometryne toxicity. C. reinhardtii treated with prometryne at 2.5–12.5 μg L−1 for 4 d or 7.5 μg L−1 for 1–6 d accumulated a large quantity of prometryne, with more than 2 mg kg−1 fresh weight in cells exposed to 10 μg L−1 prometryne. Moreover, it showed a great ability to degrade simultaneously the cell-accumulated prometryne. Such uptake and catabolism of prometryne led to the rapid removal of prometryne from media. Physiological and molecular analysis revealed that toxicology was associated with accumulation of prometryne in the cells. The biological processes of degradation can be interpreted as an internal tolerance mechanism. These results suggest that the green alga is useful in bioremediation of prometryne-contaminated aquatic ecosystems.

► Chlamydomonas reinhardtii treated with prometryne accumulated a large quantity of prometryne.
► The green alga can degrade substantially accumulated prometryne.
► Overload of prometryne triggered generation of reactive oxygen species.
► Several enzymes responded to accumulated prometryne.