Microbial Transformation of [¹⁴C]Methabenzthiazuron by the Soil Fungus Hypocrea Cf. pilulifera Webster St. Con: Isolation, Identification, and Characterization of Some Metabolites from the Chloroform Extract

Of a series of microorganisms isolated from the soil, Hypocrea pilulifera, a fungus of the Ascomycetes class, is the only one able to metabolize the herbicide methabenzthiazuron. In cultures of this fungus the distribution of radioactivity between the individual extract fractions was found to be the following: chloroform extract fraction 73.6-79.4%, water extract fraction 6.2-11.8%, and mycelium extract fraction 3.7-12.1%. As the incubation period is lengthened, the water-soluble metabolites increase while the chloroform-soluble ones decrease. The degradation rate of [14C]methabenzthiazuron is 16% of the [14C]methabenzthiazuron recovered in 7 weeks. Six transformation products of [14C]methabenzthiazuron were isolated with the aid of thin-layer and column chromatography and characterized with the aid of spectroscopic and chromatographic methods.