Characterisation of an efficient atrazine-degrading bacterium, Arthrobacter sp. ZXY-2: an attempt to lay the foundation for potential bioaugmentation applications

Biotechnology for Biofuels

Li Wang¹  Fang Ma¹  Jixian Yang¹  Xinyue Zhao¹ 

[1] State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology;

关键词: Arthrobacter sp. ZXY-2;    Degradation rate;    Influential factors;    Bioaugmentation;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13068-018-1113-0

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background The isolation of atrazine-degrading microorganisms with specific characteristics is fundamental for bioaugmenting the treatment of wastewater containing atrazine. However, studies describing the specific features of such microorganisms are limited, and further investigation is needed to improve our understanding of bioaugmentation. Results and conclusions In this study, strain Arthrobacter sp. ZXY-2, which displayed a strong capacity to degrade atrazine, was isolated and shown to be a potential candidate for bioaugmentation. The factors associated with the biodegrading capacity of strain ZXY-2 were investigated, and how these factors likely govern the metabolic characteristics that control bioaugmentation functionality was determined. The growth pattern of Arthrobacter sp. ZXY-2 followed the Haldane–Andrews model with an inhibition constant (K i) of 52.76 mg L−1, indicating the possible augmentation of wastewater treatment with relatively high atrazine concentrations (> 50 ppm). Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) results showed a positive correlation between the atrazine degradation rate and the expression levels of three functional genes (trzN, atzB, and atzC), which helped elucidate the role of strain ZXY-2 in bioaugmentation. In addition, multiple copies of the atzB gene were putatively identified, explaining the higher expression levels of this gene than those of the other functional genes. Multiple copies of the atzB gene may represent a compensatory mechanism that ensures the biodegradation of atrazine, a feature that should be exploited in future bioaugmentation applications.

【 授权许可】

Unknown