Isolation Of Microbial Populations With The Ability To Use Pesticides As A Sole Carbon Source In Multichannel Woodchip Bioreactors Under A Controlled Environment

Woodchip bioreactors are one of the most promising on-farm management practices for mitigating nitrates (NO3-), but there are few controlled studies that focus on their ability to mitigate pesticides. To help close the knowledge gap and offer guidelines to reduce environmental impacts of agricultural runoff, we have performed enrichment cultures to isolate microbes capable of using a number of pesticides as their sole carbon source. Concurrently, we constructed a bioremediation testing facility with four channel bioreactors that can be run in concert to provide triplicate and control data on a solution of contaminated water. The physical parameters, such as temperature, laminar flow, and hydraulic residence times, have been characterized. The microbes will serve as seed biota for the bioreactors and will be used in future molecular studies on the biochemical details of bioremediation.