Research Progress of Microbial Degradation of the Sulfonylurea Herbicides

Sulfonylurea herbicides are a kind of high efficiency, low toxicity and good crop selective herbicides, such herbicides can be used to control of broadleaf weeds effectively, some varieties even can inhibit grass weeds efficiently. Because of this class herbicides’ residual toxicity to crop rotation and also to surface water, thus people should pay more attention to their persistence and environmental safety. This paper reviews the general application, the mode of action of sulfonylurea herbicides and the variety of microorganisms capable of degrading sulfonylurea herbicides, the factors that affect the efficiency of microbial degradation, finally prospect that the best ways to resolve herbicide residues are microbial remediation technology and herbicide-resistant transgenic crops.