Previous Article | Next Article 
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 1998, p. 3368-3375, Vol. 64, No. 9
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Biodegradation of Atrazine by Agrobacterium
radiobacter J14a and Use of This Strain in Bioremediation of
Contaminated Soil
J. K.
Struthers,1,
K.
Jayachandran,2,
and
T. B.
Moorman3,*
Departments of
Microbiology1 and
Agronomy,2 Iowa State University, and
National Soil Tilth Laboratory, Agricultural Research
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,3 Ames,
Iowa 50011
Received 9 March 1998/Accepted 1 July 1998
We examined the ability of a soil bacterium, Agrobacterium
radiobacter J14a, to degrade the herbicide atrazine under a
variety of cultural conditions, and we used this bacterium to increase the biodegradation of atrazine in soils from agricultural chemical distribution sites. J14a cells grown in nitrogen-free medium with citrate and sucrose as carbon sources mineralized 94% of 50 µg of
[14C-U-ring]atrazine ml
1 in
72 h with a concurrent increase in the population size from 7.9 × 105 to 5.0 × 107 cells
ml
1. Under these conditions cells mineralized the
[ethyl-14C]atrazine and incorporated approximately 30%
of the 14C into the J14a biomass. Cells grown in medium
without additional carbon and nitrogen sources degraded atrazine, but
the cell numbers did not increase. Metabolites produced by J14a
during atrazine degradation include hydroxyatrazine, deethylatrazine,
and deethyl-hydroxyatrazine. The addition of 105 J14a cells
g
1 into soil with a low indigenous population of atrazine
degraders treated with 50 and 200 µg of atrazine g
1
soil resulted in two to five times higher mineralization than in
the noninoculated soil. Sucrose addition did not result in significantly faster mineralization rates or shorten degradation lag
times. However, J14a introduction (105 cells
g
1) into another soil with a larger indigenous
atrazine-mineralizing population reduced the atrazine degradation lag
times below those in noninoculated treatments but did not generally
increase total atrazine mineralization.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: USDA-ARS,
National Soil Tilth Laboratory, 2150 Pammel Dr., Ames, IA 50011-4420. Phone: (515) 294-2308. Fax: (515) 294-8125. E-mail:
moorman{at}nstl.gov.
Present address: Betz-Dearborn, Inc., Woodlands, TX 77380.

Present address: Department of Environmental Studies, Florida
International University, University Park, Miami, FL 33199.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 1998, p. 3368-3375, Vol. 64, No. 9
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Liu, X., Parales, R. E.
(2009). Bacterial Chemotaxis to Atrazine and Related s-Triazines. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
75: 5481-5488
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Lin, C.H., Lerch, R.N., Garrett, H.E., George, M.F.
(2008). Bioremediation of Atrazine-Contaminated Soil by Forage Grasses: Transformation, Uptake, and Detoxification. J. Environ. Qual.
37: 196-206
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Cheng, G., Shapir, N., Sadowsky, M. J., Wackett, L. P.
(2005). Allophanate Hydrolase, Not Urease, Functions in Bacterial Cyanuric Acid Metabolism. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
71: 4437-4445
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Shapir, N., Sadowsky, M. J., Wackett, L. P.
(2005). Purification and Characterization of Allophanate Hydrolase (AtzF) from Pseudomonas sp. Strain ADP. J. Bacteriol.
187: 3731-3738
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Shapir, N., Rosendahl, C., Johnson, G., Andreina, M., Sadowsky, M. J., Wackett, L. P.
(2005). Substrate Specificity and Colorimetric Assay for Recombinant TrzN Derived from Arthrobacter aurescens TC1. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
71: 2214-2220
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Singh, B. K., Walker, A., Morgan, J. A. W., Wright, D. J.
(2004). Biodegradation of Chlorpyrifos by Enterobacter Strain B-14 and Its Use in Bioremediation of Contaminated Soils. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
70: 4855-4863
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Sajjaphan, K., Shapir, N., Wackett, L. P., Palmer, M., Blackmon, B., Tomkins, J., Sadowsky, M. J.
(2004). Arthrobacter aurescens TC1 Atrazine Catabolism Genes trzN, atzB, and atzC Are Linked on a 160-Kilobase Region and Are Functional in Escherichia coli. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
70: 4402-4407
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Garcia-Gonzalez, V., Govantes, F., Shaw, L. J., Burns, R. G., Santero, E.
(2003). Nitrogen Control of Atrazine Utilization in Pseudomonas sp. Strain ADP. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
69: 6987-6993
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Lin, C. H., Lerch, R. N., Garrett, H. E., Johnson, W. G., Jordan, D., George, M. F.
(2003). The Effect of Five Forage Species on Transport and Transformation of Atrazine and Isoxaflutole (Balance) in Lysimeter Leachate. J. Environ. Qual.
32: 1992-2000
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Park, J.-H., Feng, Y., Ji, P., Voice, T. C., Boyd, S. A.
(2003). Assessment of Bioavailability of Soil-Sorbed Atrazine. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
69: 3288-3298
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Fruchey, I., Shapir, N., Sadowsky, M. J., Wackett, L. P.
(2003). On the Origins of Cyanuric Acid Hydrolase: Purification, Substrates, and Prevalence of AtzD from Pseudomonas sp. Strain ADP. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
69: 3653-3657
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Strong, L. C., Rosendahl, C., Johnson, G., Sadowsky, M. J., Wackett, L. P.
(2002). Arthrobacter aurescens TC1 Metabolizes Diverse s-Triazine Ring Compounds. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
68: 5973-5980
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Shapir, N., Osborne, J. P., Johnson, G., Sadowsky, M. J., Wackett, L. P.
(2002). Purification, Substrate Range, and Metal Center of AtzC: the N-Isopropylammelide Aminohydrolase Involved in Bacterial Atrazine Metabolism. J. Bacteriol.
184: 5376-5384
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Seffernick, J. L., de Souza, M. L., Sadowsky, M. J., Wackett, L. P.
(2001). Melamine Deaminase and Atrazine Chlorohydrolase: 98 Percent Identical but Functionally Different. J. Bacteriol.
183: 2405-2410
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Seffernick, J. L., Johnson, G., Sadowsky, M. J., Wackett, L. P.
(2000). Substrate Specificity of Atrazine Chlorohydrolase and Atrazine-Catabolizing Bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
66: 4247-4252
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Topp, E., Mulbry, W. M., Zhu, H., Nour, S. M., Cuppels, D.
(2000). Characterization of S-Triazine Herbicide Metabolism by a Nocardioides sp. Isolated from Agricultural Soils. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
66: 3134-3141
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Topp, E., Zhu, H., Nour, S. M., Houot, S., Lewis, M., Cuppels, D.
(2000). Characterization of an Atrazine-Degrading Pseudaminobacter sp. Isolated from Canadian and French Agricultural Soils. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
66: 2773-2782
[Abstract]
[Full Text]