Potential Use of Rice Field Cyanobacterium Nostoc muscorum in the Evaluation of Butachlor Induced Toxicity and their Degradation

In the present study, butachlor (5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 ppm) induced toxicity in Nostoc muscorum and their degradation was evaluated. The dose of butachlor dependent decreased in the cell survival and growth of N. muscorum was noticed. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the adverse impact on the cell size and shapes. Low concentrations of butachlor (10 and 20 ppm) induced the over expression of a polypeptides of 31.0 K Da and 42.7 K Da, respectively which could be responsible for developing resistance in the organism up to certain level. Further, the degradation product of butachlor as a result of metabolic activities of N. muscorum, identified by GC-MS analysis includes phenols and benzene dicarboxylic acid indicating the utilization of herbicide during active growth.