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Isolation and characterization of atrazine-degrading Arthrobacter sp. strains from Argentine agricultural soils

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Abstract

Three bacterial strains capable of degrading atrazine were isolated from Manfredi soils (Argentine) using enrichment culture techniques. These soils were used to grow corn and were treated with atrazine for weed control during 3 years. The strains were nonmotile Gram-positive bacilli which formed cleared zones on atrazine solid medium, and the 16S rDNA sequences indicated that they were Arthrobacter sp. strains. The atrazine-degrading activity of the isolates was characterized by the ability to grow with atrazine as the sole nitrogen source, the concomitant herbicide disappearance, and the chloride release. The atrazine-degrader strain Pseudomonas sp. ADP was used for comparative purposes. According to the results, all of the isolates used atrazine as sole source of nitrogen, and sucrose and sodium citrate as the carbon sources for growth. HPLC analyses confirmed herbicide clearance. PCR analysis revealed the presence of the atrazine catabolic genes trzN, atzB, and atzC. The results of this work lead to a better understanding of microbial degradation activity in order to consider the potential application of the isolated strains in bioremediation of atrazine-polluted agricultural soils in Argentina.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Universidad Nacional del Sur for financial support of the research work, through PGI No. 24/A112 and to CONICET for providing a fellowship to Leticia A. Fernández. We would like to thank Peter Daniel from Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (Balcarce, Argentina) for permitting access to HPLC analysis and for helping to perform them. We also want to thank Fabrice Martin-Laurent from INRA-CMSE, Dijon Cedex (France) for providing the primers to detect atrazine degradation genes and Ana María Zamponi, CONICET (Argentina), for her helpful technical assistance.

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  1. Laboratorio de Microbiología Agrícola, Departamento de Agronomía, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Altos del Palihue s/n, 8000, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Leticia Andrea Fernández & Marisa Anahí Gómez

  2. Laboratorio de Bioquímica, Microbiología e Interacciones Biológicas en el Suelo, Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Roque Sáenz Peña 352, Bernal, 1876BXD, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Claudio Valverde

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  1. Leticia Andrea Fernández
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  2. Claudio Valverde
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  3. Marisa Anahí Gómez
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Correspondence to Leticia Andrea Fernández.

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Fernández, L.A., Valverde, C. & Gómez, M.A. Isolation and characterization of atrazine-degrading Arthrobacter sp. strains from Argentine agricultural soils. Ann Microbiol 63, 207–214 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-012-0463-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-012-0463-2

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