Fate of a bacterium,Pseudomonas paucimobilisSS86, in Upland Field

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Abstract
The fate of Pseudomonas paucimobilis SS86, which was isolated from an upland field where γ-HCH (γ-hexachlorocyclohexane, γ-BHC, lindane) had been repeatedly applied for more than 10 years and which had a peculiar ability to decompose γ-HCH rapidly and completely, was studied using an upland field soil where γ-HCH had never been applied previously. A localized area of the surface soil (10 cm thick and 30 cm in diameter) in the field plot was inoculated with P. paucimobilis SS86 along with γ-HCH and the fate of the bacterium was monitored in several areas in the plot during the following 21 weeks. In the inoculated area, the number of bacteria increased, reached a maximum, and decreased afterwards. The bacterium seemed to prefer vertical movement to horizontal movement in the soil. It was confirmed that the genes responsible for γ-HCH decomposition were not lost throughout the experimental period, though some of the genes were encoded in some plasmids and were not very stable when the bacterium multiplied rapidly in the absence of γ-HCH.