Biodegradation of atrazine in sand sediments and in a sand-filter |
| |
Authors: | S J Goux M Ibanez M Van Hoorick P Debongnie S N Agathos L Pussemier |
| |
Institution: | (1) Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre, Leuvensesteenweg, 17, 3080 Tervuren, Belgium e-mail: l.pussemier@terv.var.fgov.be Tel.: +32-2-7692248 Fax: +32-2-7692305, BE;(2) Institute for Land and Water Management, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, BE;(3) Unit of Bioengineering, Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, BE |
| |
Abstract: | The potential of a microbial consortium for treating waters contaminated with atrazine was considered. In conventional liquid
culture, atrazine and its two dealkylated by-products were equally metabolised by the microbial consortium. Transient production
of hydroxyatrazine was observed during atrazine catabolism, indicating that the catabolic pathway was similar to the one reported
for isolates capable of atrazine mineralisation. This consortium was then inoculated to sediments sampled from an artificial
recharge site. These sediments were contaminated by atrazine and diuron and exhibited only a slow endogenous herbicide dissipation.
Inoculated microorganisms led to extensive atrazine degradation and survived for more than 10 weeks in the sediments. A rudimentary
bioreactor was then setup using a soil core originating from the same recharge site. Degrading microorganisms rapidly colonised
the core and expressed their degrading activity. The efficiency of the bioreactor was improved in the presence of spiked environmental
surface waters. Atrazine degraders thus possibly benefited from the other organic sources in developing and expressing their
activity. The microbial consortium did not initially exhibit the capacity to degrade diuron, which was used as reference compound.
No change in this characteristic was detected throughout the study.
Received: 13 December 1999 / Received revision: 26 April 2000 / Accepted: 5 May 2000 |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|