Isolation, Characteristics, and Prospects of Using the Ochrobactrum Intermedium Strain in the Degradation of the Cypermethrin Pesticide.

BACKGROUND: Due to the constant and improper use of chemicals, including pesticides, many substances, and their degradation products can accumulate in the soil and negatively affect its organisms. METHODS: In this study, morphological methods, Gram-staining, and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionzation Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) methods were used to isolate bacteria from agricultural soils, while genetic identification was conducted using 16S rRNA. The density of bacteria was determined using the spectrophotometric method, and the residual amount of cypermethrin was determined and analyzed using Gas chromatograohy-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods. RESULTS: Nine isolates were obtained from various agricultural soils. Isolate No. 3 showed the greatest effectiveness against cypermethrin and was selected for further research. Isolate No. 3 was identified as the Ochrobactrum intermedium strain PDB-3 and was registered in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database (GenBank: OL587509.1). Using this strain, the influence of various external factors on the degradation of cypermethrin was studied. This bacterium demonstrated 100% degradation of cypermethrin in 20 days under optimal conditions (temperature: 30 °C; optical density (OD) = 0.2; cypermethrin concentration: 80 ± 0.02 mg/kg). In addition, PDB-3 changed the original structure of cypermethrin into various intermediate metabolites, such as 2-hydroxy-3-phenoxy benzeneacetonitrile, 3-phenoxybenzaldehyde, 3-phenoxybenzaldehyde, methyl stearate, anethol, citral, and phenol. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained using PDB-3 provide the basis for large-scale field trials on the bioremediation of cypermethrin-contaminated soils.

The genetic or mythical ancestry of descent groups: lessons from the Y chromosome.

Traditional societies are often organized into descent groups called "lineages," "clans," and "tribes." Each of these descent groups claims to have a common ancestor, and this ancestry distinguishes the group's members from the rest of the population. To test the hypothesis of common ancestry within these groups, we compared ethnological and genetic data from five Central Asian populations. We show that, although people from the same lineage and clan share generally a recent common ancestor, no such common ancestry is observed at the tribal level. Thus, a tribe might be a conglomerate of clans who subsequently invented a mythical ancestor to strengthen group unity.