Temperature dependent effect of difenoconazole on enzymatic activity from soil

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of difenoconazole (DFC) on the activity of a few enzymes commonly found in soil: dehydrogenase, urease, phosphatase and protease. Three experimental variants were established: under field conditions with variable temperature (10–21 °C, variants A1–A3), under laboratory conditions with constant temperature (30 °C, variants B1–B3) and untreated soil (C variant). The commercial product "Score 250EC" with 250 g DFC L-1 was used at the following concentrations: 0.037 mg DFC g-1 soil (variants A1 and B1), 0.075 mg DFC g-1 soil (variants A2 and B2) and 0.150 mg DFC g-1 soil (variants A3 and B3). The dehydrogenase, phosphatase and urease activities decreased significantly (p < 0.05) under both field (variants A1–A3) and laboratory (variants B1–B3) conditions compared to untreated soil (variant C). The protease activity was reduced in variants A1–A3 compared to variant C and increased at the dose of 0.150 mg DFC g-1 soil in the variant B3.