Isolation and characterization of atrazine-degrading Arthrobacter sp. AD26 and use of this strain in bioremediation of contaminated soil

A bacterial strain (AD26) capable of utilizing atrazine as a sole nitrogen source for growth was isolated from an industrial wastewatersample by enrichment culture. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing identified AD26 as anArthrobacter sp. PCR assays indicated that AD26contained atrazine-degrading genes trzN and atzBC. The trzN gene of AD26 only differs from the trzN ofArthrobacter aurescens TC1by one base (A→T at 907) and one amino acid (Met→Leu at 303). The specific activity of trzN of AD26 in crude cell extract was0.28 U/mg, which was 1.2 times that of TC 1. This strain has shown faster growth and atrazine-degradation rates in atrazine-containingminimal media than two well characterized atrazine-degrading bacteria, Pseudomonas sp. ADP and Arthrobacter aurescens TC 1. Afterincubating for 48 h at 30℃, the OD600 of AD26 reached 2.6 compared with 1.33 of ADP. AD26 was capable of degrading 500 mg/Lof atrazine in minimal medium at 95% in 72 h, while the degradative rates by TC1 and ADP were only 90% and 86%, respectively. Abioremediation trial of contaminated soil has indicated that AD26 can degrade as high as 98% of atrazine contained in soil (300 mg/kg)after incubating for 20 d at 26℃, nominating this strain as a good candidate for use in bioremediation programs.