Immobilization of esterase SulE in cross-linked gelatin/chitosan and its application in remediating soils polluted with tribenuron-methyl and metsulfuron-methyl

Abstract

The esterase SulE is known to be an important and primary enzyme for the degradation of many sulfonylurea herbicides such as tribenuron-methyl, metsulfuron-methyl, and chlorimuron-ethyl. The disadvantages of applying free enzyme include poor stability and rapid deactivation in the natural environment, but these problems can be mitigated by using immobilized enzymes. In this study, cross-linked gelatin/chitosan (GLT/CTS) was selected as the enzyme immobilization carrier because its SulE activity recovery was higher than those of γ-polyglutamate/gelatin (γ-PGA/GLT) and γ-polyglutamate/chitosan (γ-PGA/CTS). The immobilization conditions were further optimized, and the effects of pH and temperature on GLT/CTS-SulE and free SulE activities to degrade tribenuron-methyl and metsulfuron-methyl were investigated. A microcosm experiment was conducted to assess the effectiveness of GLT/CTS-SulE in remediating soils polluted with tribenuron-methyl and metsulfuron-methyl. The results showed that, compared with free SulE, GLT/CTS-SulE displayed better pH and temperature adaptabilities and higher degradation efficiencies for both herbicides in soil, especially tribenuron-methyl. The results indicate that this is an excellent method to immobilize SulE for enhanced remediation of soils polluted with tribenuron-methyl or metsulfuron-methyl in situ.