An immobilizing conidia approach was used to study the degradation ability of dichlorvos in Trichoderma atroviride T-DNA insertional mutant AMT-28. Beads with 10(7) immobilized conidia per 100 mL of Na-alginate solution exhibited the highest degradation abilities. The immobilized conidia showed enhanced degradation abilities compared with immobilized or freely suspended mycelia. The immobilized cells kept good storage capacity and reusability. Dichlorvos was confirmed to be completely removed by mycelia of AMT-28 within 7 days using HPLC analysis. The dichlorvos degradation rates in auxotrophic Burk media varied and were significantly affected by nitrogen sources. There was no detectable biosorption and the removal of dichlorvos in AMT-28 was primarily attributed to a kind of Biomineralization process. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.