Phenotypic and molecular characterization of strains of Pseudomonas sp. involved in the biodegradation of atrazine in soil

• Grant number: 12/01942-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: September 01, 2012
• End date: February 28, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Eliana Guedes Stehling
• Grantee: Ana Flavia Tonelli Scaranello
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Bioremediation is a process that uses microorganisms to eliminate or reduce to acceptable levels of environmental contaminants. Atrazine, a herbicide intensively used to control weeds, is a potential contaminant of soil, groundwater, rivers, lakes and oceans. The primary pathway of degradation of the herbicide is biological pathway and Pseudomonas sp ADP is a reference organism in the process of elimination of atrazine in contaminated environments. Pseudomonas sp ADP has a pADP-1 plasmid which contain genes (AtzA, AtzB, AtzC, AtzD, AtzE, AtzF e AtzN)coding for enzymes responsible for the degradation of atrazine. The aim is the isolation and characterization of Pseudomonas spp from soil samples, identification of plasmid pADP-1 and genes degradation in microrganism, in addition to testing the isolates for the capacity of degradation of atrazine.