Peroxidases from an invasive Mesquite species for management and restoration of fertility of phenolic-contaminated soil.

Phenolics drive the global economy, but they also pose threats to soil health and plant growth. Enzymes like peroxidase have the potential to remove the phenolic contaminants from the wastewater; however, their role in restoring soil health and improving plant growth has not yet been ascertained. We fractionated efficient peroxidases (MPx) from leaves of an invasive species of Mesquite, Prosopis juliflora, and demonstrated its superiority over horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in remediating phenol, 3-chlorophenol (3-CP), and a mixture of chlorophenols (CP-M), from contaminated soil. MPx removes phenolics over a broader range of pH (2.0-9.0) as compared with HRP (pH: 7.0-8.0). In soil, replacing H₂O₂ with CaO₂ further increases the phenolic removal efficiency of MPx (≥90% of phenol, ≥ 70% of 3-CP, and ≥90% of CP-M). MPx maintains ~4-fold higher phenolic removal efficiency than purified HRP even in soils with extremely high contaminant concentration (2 g phenolics/kg of soil), which is desirable for environmental applications of enzymes for remediation. MPx treatment restores soil biological processes as evident by key enzymes of soil fertility viz. Acid- and alkaline-phosphatases, urease, and soil dehydrogenase, and improves potential biochemical fertility index of soil contaminated with phenolics. MPx treatment also assists the Vigna mungo test plant to overcome toxicant stress and grow healthy in contaminated soils. Optimization of MPx for application in the field environment would help both in the restoration of phenolic-contaminated soils and the management of invasive Mesquite.