REMEDIATION OF SOILS OF FOREST NURSERIES CONTAMINATED BY PESTICIDES BY MEANS OF MICROORGANISMS
The research purpose was to control pesticide contamination of soil by means of saprophytic colonization and define pine response to pesticide toxicity. The objectives included the study of the ability of forest litter incorporated into the soil to destruct pesticides, and the activity and taxonomic composition of microbial communities in the forest litter depending on species composition of the forest stand, and to define the effect of substrate moisture content on microbial activity. Small-plot experiments were conducted. Seeding and tillage were performed by the conventional technology. Forest litter was incorporated into arable soil layer (5-15 cm). Two-year old pine seedlings were dug out and normal and teratomorphic phenotype were identified. Catalase activity, soil moisture content, and the number of seedlings of normal phenotype were revealed in the experiments. The method of taxonomic diversity determination of forest litter microbes by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms (T-RFLP) was used. The following primary parameters of the biotechnology of soil remediation of pesticide toxicity were scientifically substantiated: forest litter composition, the advantage of coniferous forest litter, and the substrate moisture content threshold below which a vital activity of saprophytes was retarded, and the need for watering arose being determined by the soil type and weather conditions. To improve and implement the proposed method, it is important to consider not only large taxonomic groups, but also the generic assignment of microorganisms. To determine the amount of forest litter application the method should be evaluated in the soils of various particle size composition.