Microbial Degradation of Oxadiazon by Soil Fungus Fusarium solani

Degradation of oxadiazon [2-tert-butyl-4-(2,4-dichloro-5-isopropoxyphenyl -delta(2)-1,3,4-oxadiazolin-5-one (1))], a preemergent soil-applied herbicide, by a soil fungus, Fusarium solani (Mortius) Sacc., has been investigated. F. solani, isolated from soil by enrichment culture technique, degraded the herbicide 1 by cometabolic process. Eleven metabolites have been isolated, out of which three metabolites (M1, M2, and M3) were characterized by spectroscopic evidence. Metabolites M1 and M3 are reported for the first time as metabolites of oxadiazon. The main metabolic pathways involve oxadiazoline ring cleavage without dechlorination reaction