Effect of Pesticides on Soil Microorganisms

Pesticides are chemical compounds used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to
cultivated plants or to animals. The most common use of pesticides is as plant protection
products also known as crop protection products which in general protect plants from damaging
influences of weeds, fungi or insects. Though pesticides use is so commonly ascribed to plant
protection products, but it is in fact a broader term, also involved in non-agricultural uses and
purposes. They are meant to control pests and these include herbicide, insecticide, nematicide,
molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellants,
microbicide, fungicide, and lampricide.

Generally, a pesticide is a chemical (for example, carbamate) or biological agent such as virus,
bacterium, or fungus, that incapacitates, deters, kills or otherwise discourages pests.

Soil microorganisms are in broad sense defined as a group of microscopic life forms that include
bacteria, viruses, archaea and eukaryotes such as fungi.

Soil microorganisms are known to help in the breakdown of organic matter from dead plants and
animals and incorporate it into the soil thus increasing soil organic content, improves soil
structure and helps plants to thrive. Soil without microorganisms will not support plant growth as
release and conversion of locked up and unusable forms of compounds will not be converted to
usage forms that plants need. Soil microbes are therefore important and should be protected from
the harmful effects of pesticides.

The level of tolerance of different groups of soil microorganisms to soil disturbances varies.
Some of these disturbances include application of pesticides on the soil. Bacteria, actinomycetes
and protozoa are known to tolerate more soil disturbances than the fungal populations.

Pesticides can be organic or inorganic in nature. The organic pesticides do not stay long in the
soil. They don’t bioaccumulate and are easily degraded by sunlight and microbes. They have
carbon in their chemical structures. Examples of organic pesticides include organophosphate,
rotenone, azadirachtin, pyrethrum, endosulfan, lindane, dichlorvos, dicofol, chlordane and
dimethoate. The inorganic pesticides stay very long in the soil; lasting months to years and they
bioaccumulate. They are recalcitrant in nature. As a result of their ability to bioaccumulate, have
adverse effects on plants, animals, microbes and humans. They don’t have carbon in their
chemical structures. Examples of inorganic pesticides are ferrous sulfate, lime, arsenate, copper
sulfate and chlorides of lead.

Pesticides effect genetic alteration by causing mutation, resistance to the pesticides, cause
changes in soil biodiversity as well as cause death of soil microorganisms due to toxicity.
 Ecological Relationship among Soil Pathogens

Soil pathogens are disease-causing agents that live both in soil and in or on a plant host, causing
infection in healthy plants growing in the soil. They can be bacteria, fungi, viruses, nematodes
and so on. Examples of these pathogens are but not limited to the following: Fusarium,
Rhozoctonia, Verticillium, Phytophthora, Pythium, Rhizopus and Thielaviopsis.

Soil is the largest terrestrial ecosystem where a wide variety of interactions exist between
different types of soil pathogens. Microorganisms in a given habitat at a particular time are
known and excepted to interact. The interaction can be positively or negatively influencing as
well as neither positively nor negatively influencing.

The relationships existing between different soil microorganisms be it symbiotic or antagonistic,

influence the activity of microorganisms in the soil.

In the soil, many microorganisms live in close proximity and interact among themselves in
different ways. Some of these relationships can be mutually beneficial, mutually detrimental or
neutral.

Neutral Relationship

Neutral association or neutralism is the relationship between microorganisms where two

different species of microorganisms are in the same environment but are not affecting each other.
The relationship may be temporary; lasting a short time due to changes in environmental
conditions such as nutrient availability.

Mutually Beneficial Relationships

These relationships include mutualism (symbiosis), commensalisms, and proto-cooperation.

Mutualism: This is also known as symbiosis. It is an association in which both the interacting
organisms benefit from each other. The way in which benefit is derived depends on the type of
interactions. For example, when the benefit involves exchange of nutrients, the relationship is
termed syntrophism. Lichen and algae are in mutualism; algae do the photosynthesis and lichen
houses the algae.
Microorganisms may also form symbiotic relationship with plants e.g. nitrogen-fixing bacteria
i.e Rhizobium and roots of legumes. Rhizobium benefits protection from environmental stresses
while the plants get readily nitrate from the bacterial counterpart.

Also, the followings are further examples of symbiosis: Anabaena-Azolla relationship, Frankia
with roots of Alnus and Casurina (non-legumes) and roots of higher plants and Mycorrhiza (a
fungus).

Commensalism: In this type of relationship, one organism in the association benefits without
affecting the other organism in the interaction. Many fungi can degrade cellulose to glucose and
then utilized by many bacteria. Lignin, for example, constitutes the major percentage component
of woody plants and is usually resistant to microbial degradation. But in the forest soils, lignin is
readily degraded by a group of Basidiomycetous fungi and the degraded products are used by
several other fungi and bacteria which are not capable of using lignin directly. This type of
interaction is also found in organic matter decomposition process.

Proto-cooperation

Proto-cooperation is a mutually beneficial relationship between two microorganisms. As against

symbiosis, proto-cooperation is not obligatory for their existence or performance of a particular
activity.

In this relationship, one organism favours its partner by removing toxic substances from the
environment and simultaneously gets carbon products made by the partner that was favoured.

Nutritional proto-cooperation between bacteria and fungi has been established for various amino
acids, purines and vitamins in the soil ecosystem.

Detrimental Relationships

These relationships include antagonism, amensalism, competition, parasitism and predation.

Antagonism

In this association, one species of an organism is adversely affected by another species in the
same environment. Direct or indirect inhibition of the activities of the other organism may be
involved. This relationship is the most common in nature, and also important for the production
of antibiotics.

Antagonism may be categorized into three viz antibiosis, competition and exploitation. In the
phenomenon of antibiosis, antibiotics or metabolite produced by one organism inhibits another
organism. Example of antagonism is found in the relationship between Bacillus species and soil
fungi, in which Bacillus spp. produce antifungal agents against the soil fungi. Streptomyces spp.
against some bacteria and fungi, achieved by producing antibacterial and antifungal agents.
Terramycin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol and cyclohexamide are obtained from Streptomyces
culture for antagonism purpose. Also, inhibition of Verticillium by Trichoderma, Rhizoctonia by
Bacillus subtilis and Aspergillus terreus by Staphylococcus aureus.

Amensalism

In this relationship, one organism suppresses the growth of the other organism by producing
toxin-like antibiotics and harmful gases such as nitrite, ethylene and hydrogen cyanide.

Competition

This arises from limited resources such as nutrients, space etc., hence initiating a very fierce
competition for such limited resources. Examples of competition is seen in this relationship:
Chlamydospores of Fusarium, Oospores of Aphanomyces and conidia of Verticillium dahlae
require exogenous nutrients to germinate in the soil, but other fungi and soil bacteria deplete
these nutrients.

Parasitism

It is the relationship between two organisms, in which one organism lives in or on another
organism. The parasite depends on the host and host cells, tissues or fluids for several resources.
The parasite lives in very close physical contact with the host. Examples, viruses on bacteria
(bacteriophages), viruses on fungi and viruses on algae.

Predation

Predation is an association in which predator organism feed directly on and kills the prey
organism. Predators may and may not kill their prey before feeding on them but the act of
predation most times, results in the death of the prey organism.
Examples: Myxococcus xanthus

Arthrobotrytis spp. and Dactylellaare spp.; these are nematode-trapping fungi.