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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.

Sec. Microbiotechnology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1541328

This article is part of the Research Topic Biodegradation of Agricultural Pesticides​ View all articles

Enhanced phoxim biodegradation by immobilizing Novosphingobium sp. RL4 on attapulgite-sodium alginate

Provisionally accepted
Tong Peng Tong Peng 1,2Yining Huang Yining Huang 2Tao Yang Tao Yang 2,3Yinquan Wang Yinquan Wang 2*Ling Jin Ling Jin 2*
  • 1 Basic Medical Research Centre, Medical College of Nantong University, Nantong, China
  • 2 College of pharmacy, Gansu University of Chinese medicine, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China
  • 3 Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources Exploitation and Application, Institute of Biology, Gansu Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Residual phoxim pollution presents a potential threat to natural ecosystems and human health. The immobilization of degrading strains on natural adsorbent materials is a common strategy to enhance the degradation of target compounds in the environment by the strains.Methods: A phoxim-degrading bacterial strain was isolated from the rhizosphere soil of rhubarb (Rheum palmatum L.), which had been exposed to long-term phoxim contamination. To enhance its stability and practical applicability, sodium alginate (SA) was utilized as a carrier material, while biochar (BC) and attapulgite (ATP) served as adsorption materials. These components were used to immobilize the strain, forming three distinct bacterial bead formulations: SA-RL4, SA+BC-RL4, and SA+ATP-RL4.Results: The isolated phoxim-degrading strain was identified as Novosphingobium sp. RL4. Furthermore, the degradation products of phoxim by strain RL4 were analyzed and characterized.Based on the specific surface area, mass-transfer performance results, adsorption isotherms, and degradation efficiency, the addition of ATP or BC to SA has an equally positive impact on the degradation of phoxim by immobilized microspheres. ATP can replace BC as an adsorbent carrier material for embedding bacteria to a certain extent. At 20 mg/L, SA+ATP-RL4 degraded 89.37% of phoxim in 72 hours. Importantly, SA+ATP-RL4 can be reused, and the degradation efficiency remained above 80% after five cycles. Furthermore, it exhibits high tolerance and better degradation ability compared to free cells of RL4 when used in treating agricultural wastewater containing phoxim. Conclusion: SA+ATP-RL4 shows potential for in situ remediation of phoxim-contaminated environments

    Keywords: Phoxim, Novosphingobium sp., Sodium alginate, Attapulgite, biochar

    Received: 07 Dec 2024; Accepted: 25 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Peng, Huang, Yang, Wang and Jin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Yinquan Wang, College of pharmacy, Gansu University of Chinese medicine, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China
    Ling Jin, College of pharmacy, Gansu University of Chinese medicine, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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