ABSTRACT

Herbicide use and misuse also causes selection pressure on microbes in soil and water, possibly resulting in changes to microbial processes. Hence this study hope to determine the biodegradation potential of fungi on Haloxyfop-Rmethylesterisamemberofthearyloxyphenoxy-propionateherbicidefamily. Soil samples containing Haloxyfop-Rmethylesterwere obtained from active farmland. Using cultural and morphological parameters the biodegradative abilities of the fungal isolates were determined and identified. The results shows that the ph of soil soil samples ranged from 5.906 ± 0.02 to 6.174 ± 0.010. The total heterotrophic fungal counts on PDA ranged from 1.06x10³ ± 1.20 CFU/g to 4.60x10³± 2.08 CFU/g_, while on MSM media ranged from 3.07x10² ± 1.76 CFU/g to 4.93x10² ± 2.60 CFU/g. The fungal isolates identified were Aspergillus spp., Rhizopus spp.1,  Penicillium spp., Fusarium spp.1,  Fusarium spp.2,  Rhizopus spp.2, Fusarium spp.3 and Mucor spp.The biodegradative properties of the fungal isolates ranged from 0.1625 to 0.284 mg/kg of Haloxyfop-Rmethylester after 7 days. This study therefore demonstrates the abilities of fungi to degrade haloxyfop-R methyl ester, as such opens the door for developing methods aimed to reduce contamination by haloxyfop-R methyl ester in soil and aquatic environments.