According to “International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry” biodegradation is “Breakdown of a substance catalyzed by enzymes in vitro or in vivo.
• The ability of microorganisms to convert toxic chemicals (xenobiotics) to simpler non-toxic compounds by synthesis of certain enzymes.
• Biodegradation processes affected by substrate specificity, nutrition source, temperature, pH etc.
Xenobiotic compound can be degraded by 2 different way
Oxic (Presence of O2)
Anoxic (Absent of O2)
Detoxification:
Conversion of the pesticide to non-toxic compound. A single moiety in the side chain removal can rendering the chemical non-toxic.
b) Degradation:
Breakdown or transformation of a complex substrate into simpler products leading to mineralization.
Conjugation (complex formation or addition reaction):
An organism makes the substrate more complex or combines the pesticide with cell metabolites (addition of an amino acid, organic acid or methyl crown to the substrate thereby inactivating the pesticides.)
d) Changing the spectrum of toxicity:
Some pesticides are designed to control one particular group of pests however some time it mutated and inhibit to entirely dissimilar groups of organisms,