Influence of environmental factors on degradation of carbendazim by Bacillus pumilus strain NY97-1

The influence of environmental factors on the performance of carbendazim degradation by Bacillus pumilus strain NY97-1 was investigated under aerobic conditions. The carbendazim degradation in culture medium was characterised by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with UV detector. When the initial concentration of carbendazim was 10, 30, 50, 100, 300 mg/L, the degradation rate was 42.44, 48.97, 77.19, 78.66 and 90.07%, respectively after 24 h at 30 degrees C. Addition of small amount of organic nitrogenous source had a significant influence on carbendazim degradation, while the inorganic nitrogenous source had negative effect. Carbendazim degradation rate varied from 61.55% to 87.76% when pH value within the range of 4-10 after addition of organic nitrogen, the lowest carbendazim degradation percentage of 61.55% was obtained at pH 4.