ARS | Publication request: Introduction of Atrazine-Degrading Pseudomonas Sp. Strain Adp to Enhance Phytoremediation of Atrazine

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: November 20, 2007
Publication Date: November 20, 2007
Citation: Lin, C.H., Thompson, B.M., Hsieh, H.Y., Kremer, R.J., Lerch, R.N., Garrett, H.E. 2007. Introduction of atrazine-degrading pseudomonas sp. strain adp to enhance phytoremediation of atrazine [abstract]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting , November 4-8, 2007, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2007 CDROM.

Technical Abstract: Atrazine (ATR) has been widely applied in the US and Mid Western states. Recently, public health and ecological concerns have been raised about contamination of surface and ground water by ATR and its chlorinated metabolites, due to their toxicity and potential carcinogenic or endocrinology effects. Phytoremediation has been proven to be one of the most cost-effective mitigation practices to remove atrazine from surface runoff derived from agronomic operations. Current ongoing research have identified several plant species showing promising capacity to degrade most of the soil atrazine to less toxic or less mobile metabolites in the rhizosphere. However, the mineralization of ATR and its chlorinated metabolites, or complete cleavage of the triazine ring, in the rhizosphere was limited to 2-10% under both laboratory and field conditions. Despite the persistence of ATR and its metabolites in the environment, a few bacterial strains, including Pseudomonas sp. ADP, were isolated in the past decade from atrazine spill sites. These bacteria contained a series of genes encoded on a self-transmissible plasmid, pADP-1, responsible for various processes of ATR degradation resulting in complete ring cleavage and rapid mineralization of ATR. We proposed to investigate the synergistic effect of introducing these biological agents with forage grasses known to enhance ATR degradation in soils. The developed knowledge will be transferred for future field application to reduce the transport of ATR and its metabolites to water resources.