International Science and Technology Center

Objective

The purpose of project. To identify plant genotypes which can be used for phytoremediation of pesticide contaminated soil and the associated mechanisms.

The Problem. Among environmental pollutants, pesticides represent a special danger. Given the effectiveness of pesticides in guarding agriculture, continued application is inevitable. With each year, the assortment and amount of pesticides will increase. The United States Environmental Protection Agency registers more than 23,400 pesticides (EPA, 1991). During the last 30-50 years, more than 700 substances belonging to different classes of chemical compounds (Melnikov, 1993) have been applied in Kazakhstan and the contiguous countries of the CIS (Basmidin, 1997). In 1999, Kazakhstan imported 44,000 tons (more than 100 different brand names) of pesticides for the sum $40 million.

The behavior of pesticides in the environment is connected to their physical and chemical properties, namely:
· their relative stability in physical and chemical reactions,
· solubility in water or organic solvents, and
· the speed at which they are metabolized from water or soil by plant and animal organisms.
In addition to their resistance to degradation, these substances have the ability to collect in biological chains. A principal problem is finding modes of neutralization of these harmful substances. Classical methods for clean-up of contaminated areas (for example, petroleum) include incineration or destruction by low temperature. Bioremediation and phytoremediation are new and alternative methods of bioclearing.
The soil of Kazakhstan is damaged due to accumulation and migration by over 30 years of application of herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. In these soils, microflora have been destroyed, which has resulted in the disruption of the natural course of agrocoenosis. Therefore, searching for methods of bioclearing of soils from contaminations, in particular by pesticides, for Kazakhstan is essential.

The development of this project will be carried out by scientists at three research institutes:

The workers of Institute of Plant Physiology, Genetics and Bioengineering A.ANurzhanova, I. Rachimbaev, A.I.Sedlovskiy, L.M.Grudzinskaja, L.N.Tyupina, S.V.Nam are the highly skilled specialists in the field of physiology of plants, genetics, biochemistry and botany. For many years they have been engaged in research of the influence of anthropogenous factors on the environment.
The workers of National center on Biotechnology of Republic Kazakhstan E.L.Kalmykov, G.N.Lepeshkin, M.V.Vasilkova, Zh.K.Uspanova, I.E.Paramonova, S.G.Donchenko, E.V.Kravchenko, O.I.Kolysheva, L.K.Novikova, T.V.Prichodko, T.K.Skvorzova, L.S.Goljanskaya, and V.M.Devochkin previously worked on methods to guard against biological weapons of mass destruction. Now their scientific interests are switched to the peace purposes and are connected to the study of contamination of environment by radionuclides, heavy metals and pesticides.
The workers of Akmolinskiy Agrarian University V.I.Zotikov, B.O.Alimzhanov, R.M.Turpanova, S.S.Bekkuzhina are the highly skilled specialists in the field of development farming techniques of cultivation of agricultural plants.

Expected results:

? Development of protocols for the selection and identification of tolerant plants to pesticides with
desirable phytoremediation properties
? Collection of plants with potential phytoremediation properties.
? Information about the quantitative content of pesticides in the soil environments at the collection
sites.
Develop a protocol for trials of pesticide tolerant plants.

Objective

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