Simultaneous mineralization of glyphosate and diuron by a consortium of three bacteria as free- and/or immobilized-cells formulations

A bacterial consortium able to mineralize two herbicides, glyphosate (Pseudomonas 4ASW) and diuron (Arthrobacter sp. N4 and Delftia acidovorans), was cultivated in both a synthetic culture medium without phosphate and a sediment extract medium. In the aim at optimizing glyphosate and diuron mineralization, all the combinations, i.e., free and/or immobilized cells in Ca-alginate beads were tested. With the synthetic medium, the simultaneous mineralization of glyphosate and diuron required at least the immobilization of Pseudomonas 4ASW. Conversely, with the sediment extract medium, only the mineralization of diuron was observed, most probably, because of both nutrient deficiency and phosphate in the sediment extract medium.