Bioaugmentation with Arthrobacter sp. strain DAT1 for remediation of heavily atrazine-contaminated soil

A previously isolated atrazine-degrading bacterium, Arthrobacter sp. strain DAT1, was used to investigate its potential of remediating soil with heavy contamination. Change of atrazine-degrading genetic potential was estimated by quantitative PCR targeting trzN, atzB and atzC genes. Growth of the strain DAT1 was monitored using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis. The results indicated that this bioremediation process could achieve a high removal rate in 2–3 days. Continuous increase in the number of trzN, atzB and atzC genes and the relative abundance of the strain DAT1 was observed during the bioaugmentation process.This work might provide some new insights toward bioremediation of heavily atrazine-contaminated soil.

► The Arthrobacter sp. strain continuously grew after inoculation.
► The number of catabolic genes increased during bioaugmentation process.
►  Bioaugmentation was effective for remediating heavy atrazine contamination.