Assessment of the bacterial diversity in fenvalerate-treated soil

The impact of the pesticide fenvalerate on the diversity of the bacterial community in soil was investigated in this study. After treatment with 0.1, 0.5 or 1.0 mg fenvalerate g(-1) soil in three soils and incubation for a 40-day period, the changes in diversity were monitored by two different methods. The cultivable heterotrophic diversity was investigated by colony morphology on solid LB medium. Genetic diversity was measured as bands on denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) gels by total genomic DNA extraction and purification, PCR-amplification of bacterial 16S rDNA fragments. The Shannon-Wiener index of diversity (H), richness (S) and evenness (EH) were used to measure changes in the bacterial community in the soils. The results of the cultivable heterotrophic diversity and genetic diversity showed that there was an obvious decrease in diversity due to the application of fenvalerate to the soils, and the different amounts added had different impacts on the diversity. Bands appearing to be either enhanced or inhibited as a result of the fenvalerate treatments were excized and sequenced. Sequencing of excized DGGE bands indicated that application of fenvalerate had an obvious impact on several Pseudomonas spp., or Xanthomonas campestris or Streptomyces avermitilis. This revealed that microbial community changes can occur due to the application of fenvalerate to soil.