Organophosphorus pesticide tolerance of transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana by bacterial ophB gene encode organophosphorus hydrolase

Abstract

Organophosphate hydrolase (OphB) gene from Pseudomonas sp. was transferred into Arabidopsis plants to observe the bioremediation ability and tolerance level of the transgenic plant to organophosphate pesticides contaminants. Gene transfer was observed by PCR of the transgenic Arabidopsis plants’ genomic DNA. Expression of ophB gene and protein levels in the transgenic Arabidopsis plants was observed by western blot analysis. The transgenic plants were resistant and tolerant to chlorpyrifos (an organophosphate pesticide), as evidenced by a toxicity test, where the transgenic plants produced greater shoot and root biomass than that of wild type plants. The fresh weight of transgenic Arabidopsis plants’ did not reduced significantly till 400 ppm chlorpyrifos treatment, but fresh weight of wild type Arabidopsis plants’ significantly reduced by the application of 100 ppm chlorpyrifos. Moreover, in 600 ppm chlorpyrifos liquid culture, transgenic Arabidopsis plants’ produced 1.34 g biomass from 100 seeds, but wild type Arabidopsis plants’ produced only 0.24 g biomass from 100 seeds. This study indicates that transgenic Arabidopsis plants having ophB gene increase the tolerance level of organophosphate pesticides.

KEYWORKS:

• Biodegradation
• gene transfer
• pesticide
• chlorpyrifos
• decontamination

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the scientists and technicians of the Central Laboratory, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 660–701, South Korea. The authors are grateful to Dr. Dennis Wayne Eaton, Contract Faculty, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8554 (USA) for correction of the manuscript.

Data availability statement

Find the data “10.6084/m9.figshare.16992001”

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

Shah Md. Asraful Islam had been funded by Korea Research Fellowship (KRF), National Research Foundation of Korea, Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea.