Tuesday, November 6, 2007
231-28

Introduction of Atrazine-Degrading Pseudomonas Sp. Strain Adp to Enhance Phytoremediation of Atrazine.

Chung-Ho Lin1, Brian M. Thompson2, Hsin Y. Hsieh2, Robert Kremer3, Robert Lerch4, and Harold Garrett5. (1) Center for Agroforestry, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, (2) Department Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, (3) USDA-ARS, University of Missouri, 302 ABNR Bldg., Columbia, MO 65211-7250, (4) USDA-ARS Cropping Systems & Water Quality Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 1406 Rollins St. Rm. 265, Columbia, MO 65211-0001, (5) University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Missouri-Columbia, 203 ABNR, Columbia, MO 65211

Atrazine has been used leading herbicide 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 the persistent ATR and its chlorinated metabolites, due to their toxicity and potential carcinogenic or endocrinology effects. Phytoremediation 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 degrade most of the soil atrazine to less toxic or less mobile metabolites in the rhizosphere . However, The mineralization of atrzaine and its chlorinated metabolites or completed cleavage of trazine ring in the rhizosophere, was limited less than 2-10% under both laboratory and field conditions. Despite of the persistency of atrazine and its degradates in the environment, a few bacteria strains including Pseudomonas sp. ADP were isolated in the past decade from the atrazine spill site heavily contaminated. These bacteria contained a series of genes encoded on a self-transmissible plasmid pADP-1 responsible for various processes of atrazine degradation resulting in completed ring cleavage that rapidly mineralize the atrazine into carbon dioxide. We proposed to investigate the synergic effect of introducing these biological agents on enhance the phytoremediation of atrazine. The developed knowledge will be transferred for future field application to reduce the atrazine and its metabolites migrate to water sources.