Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-fqc5m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T10:53:22.711Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Rapid Assay for Detecting Enhanced Atrazine Degradation in Soil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Dale L. Shaner*
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, Water Management Research Unit, 2150 Centre Avenue, Building D, Suite 320, Fort Collins, CO 80526
W. Brien Henry
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, Central Great Plains Research Unit, 40335 County Road GG, Akron, CO 80720
L. Jason Krutz
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, Southern Weed Science Research Unit, P.O. Box 350, Stoneville, MS 38776
Brad Hanson
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, Water Management Unit, 9611 S. Riverbend Avenue, Parlier, CA 93648
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: dale.shaner@ars.usda.gov.

Abstract

Atrazine is widely used to control broadleaf weeds and grasses in corn, sorghum, and sugarcane. Field persistence data published before 1995 showed that the average half-life of atrazine in soil was 66 d, and farmers expect to achieve weed control with a single application for the full season. However, reports of enhanced atrazine degradation in soil from fields that have a history of atrazine applications are increasing. A rapid laboratory assay was developed to screen soils for enhanced atrazine degradation. Soil (50 g) was placed in a 250 ml glass jar and treated with 7.5 ml of water containing atrazine (5 µg ai ml−1) and capped with a Teflon-lined lid. The assay was conducted at room temperature (25 C). Soil subsamples (1.5 to 3 g) were removed at 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 d after treatment and extracted with an equal weight of water (wt/vol). The atrazine in the water extract was assayed with high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The half-life of atrazine in soils with a history of use was ≤ 1.5 d, whereas the half-life in soils with no history of atrazine use was > 8 d. The advantages of this assay are (1) the ease of set up; (2) the rapidity of extraction, and (3) the simplicity of the quantification of the atrazine.

Type
Soil, Air, and Water
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Accinelli, C., Dinelli, G., Vicari, A., and Catizone, P. 2001. Atrazine and metolachlor degradation in subsoils. Biol. Fertil. Soils. 33:495500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bacci, E. 1989. Models, field studies, laboratory experiments: an integrated approach to evaluate the environmental fate of atrazine (s-triazine herbicide). Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 27:513522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barriuso, E. and Houot, S. 1996. Rapid mineralization of the s-triazine ring of atrazine in soils in relation to soil management. Soil Biol. Biochem. 28:13411348.Google Scholar
Barriuso, E., Koskinen, W. C., and Sadowsky, M. J. 2004. Solvent extraction characterization of bioavailability of atrazine residues in soils. J. Agric. Food. Chem. 52:65526556.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boundy-Mills, K. L., de Souza, M. L., Wackett, L. P., Mandelbaum, R. T., and Sadowsky, M. J. 1997. The atzB gene of Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP encodes hydroxyatrazine ethylaminohydrolase, the second step of a novel atrazine degradation pathway. Appl. Environ. MicroBiol. 63:916923.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, J. R., Wade, G., and Barnabas, I. J. 1996. Determination of triazine herbicides in environmental samples. J. Chromatogr. A. 773:295335.Google Scholar
De Souza, M. L., Wackett, L. P., Boundy-Mills, K. L., Mandelbaum, R. T., and Sadowsky, M. J. 1995. Cloning, characterization, and expression of a gene region from Pseudomas sp. strain ADP involved in the dechlorination of atrazine. Appl. Environ. MicroBiol. 61:33733378.Google Scholar
De Souza, M. L., Wackett, L. P., and Sadowsky, M. J. 1998. The atzABC genes encoding atrazine catabolism genes are located on a self-transmissible plasmid in Pseudomonas strain ADP. Appl. Environ. MicroBiol. 64:23232326.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dinelli, G., Accinelli, C., Vicari, A., and Catizone, P. 2000. J. Agric. Food Chem. 48:30373043.Google Scholar
Erickson, L. E. and Lee, K. H. 1989. Degradation of atrazine and related s-triazines. Crit. Rev. Environ. Control. 19:114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frank, R., Clegg, B. S., and Patni, N. K. 1991. Dissipation of atrazine on a clay loam soil, Ontario, Canada, 1986–90. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 21:4150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franek, M., Kolar, V., and Eremin, S. A. 1995. Enzyme immunoassay for s-triazine herbicides and their application in environmental and food analysis. Anal. Chim. Acta. 311:349356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gan, J., Becker, R. L., Koskinen, W. C., and Buhler, D. D. 1996. Degradation of atrazine in two soils as a function of concentration. J. Environ. Qual. 25:10641072.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gish, T. J., Helling, C. S., and Mojasevic, M. 1991. Preferential movement of atrazine and cyanazine under field conditions. Trans. Am. Soc. Agric. Eng. 34:16991705.Google Scholar
Gish, T. G., Shirmohammadi, A., and Wienhold, B. J. 1994. Field-scale mobility and persistence of commercial and starch-encapsulated atrazine and alachlor. J. Environ. Qual. 23:355359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hang, S., Barriuso, E., and Houot, S. 2003. Behavior of 14C-Atrazine in Argentinean topsoils under different cropping managements. J. Environ. Qual. 32:22162222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harvey, R. G. 1987. Herbicide dissipation from soils with different herbicide use histories. Weed Sci. 35:583589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Houot, S., Topp, E., Yassir, A., and Soulas, G. 2000. Dependence of accelerated degradation of atrazine on soil pH in French and Canadian soils. Soil Biol. Biochem. 32:615625.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, S. E., Herman, J. S., Mills, A. L., and Hornberger, G. H. 1999. Bioavailability and desorption characteristics of aged, nonextractable atrazine in soil. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 18:17471754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khan, S. U., Marriage, P. B., and Hamill, A. S. 1981. Effects of atrazine treatment of a corn field using different application methods, times, and additives on the persistence of residues in soil and their uptake by oat plants. J. Agric. Food Chem. 29:216219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krutz, L. J., Zablotowicz, R. M., Reddy, K. N., Koger, C. H. III, and Weaver, M. A. 2007. Enhanced degradation of atrazine under field conditions correlates with a loss of weed control in the glasshouse. Pest Manag. Sci. 63:2331.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mandelbaum, R. T., Allan, D. L., and Wackett, L. P. 1995. Isolation and characterization of a Pseudomonas sp. that mineralizes the s-triazine herbicide atrazine. Appl. Environ. MicroBiol. 61:14511457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ng, H. Y. F., Gaynor, J. D., Tan, C. S., and Drury, C. F. 1995. Dissipation and loss of atrazine and metolachlor in surface and subsurface drain water: a case study. Water Res. 29:23092317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[NASS] National Agricultural Statistics Service 2006. 2004 Agricultural chemical usage: 2003 field crop usage. http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/other/pcu-bb/agcs0504.pdf. Accessed: March 24, 2006.Google Scholar
Ostrofsky, E. B., Traina, S. J., and Tuovinen, O. H. 1997. Variation in atrazine mineralization rates in relation to agricultural management practice. J. Environ. Qual. 26:647657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, J-H., Feng, Y., Ji, P., Voice, T. C., and Boyd, S. A. 2003. Assessment of bioavailability of soil-sorbed atrazine. Appl. Environ. MicroBiol. 69:32883298.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Popov, V. H., Cornish, P. S., Sultana, K., and Morris, E. C. 2005. Atrazine degradation in soils: the role of microbial communities, atrazine application history, and soil carbon. Aust. J. Soil Res. 43:861871.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pussemier, L., Goux, S., Vanderheyden, V., Debongnie, P., Tresinie, I., and Foucart, G. 1997. Rapid dissipation of atrazine in soils taken from various maize fields. Weed Res. 37:171179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radosevich, M., Traina, S. J., Yue-Li, H., and Tuovinen, O. H. 1995. Degradation and mineralization of atrazine by a soil bacterial isolate. Appl. Environ. MicroBiol. 61:297302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sadowsky, M. J., Tong, Z., de Souza, M. L., and Wackett, L. P. 1998. AtzC is a new member of the amidohydrolase protein superfamily and is homologous to other atrazine-metabolizing enzymes. J Bacteriol. 180:152158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Selim, H. M. 2003. Retention and runoff losses of atrazine and metribuzin in soil. J. Environ. Qual. 32:10581071.Google Scholar
Seybold, C. A., Mersie, W., and McNamee, C. 2001. Anaerobic degradation of atrazine and metolachlor and metabolite formation in wetland soil and water microcosms. J. Environ. Qual. 30:12711277.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaner, D. and Henry, W. B. 2007. Field history and dissipation of atrazine and metolachlor in Colorado. J. Environ. Qual. 36:128134.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, D., Alvey, S., and Crowley, D. E. 2005. Cooperative catabolic pathways within an atrazine-degrading enrichment culture isolated from soil. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 51:265273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorenson, B. A., Koskinen, W. C., Buhler, D. D., Wyse, D. L., Lueschen, W. E., and Morgan, M. D. 1994. Formation and movement of 14C-atrazine degradation products in a clay loam soil in the field. Weed Sci. 42:618624.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stalder, L. and Pestemer, W. 1980. Availability to plants of herbicide residues in soil, part I: a rapid method for estimating potentially available residues of herbicides. Weed Res. 20:341347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Topp, E., Zhu, H., Nour, S. M., Houot, S., Lewis, M., and Cuppels, D. 2000. Characterization of an atrazine-degrading Pseudaminotbacter sp. Isolated from Canadian and French agricultural soils. Appl. Environ. MicroBiol. 66:27732782.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vanderheyden, V., Debongnie, P., and Pussemier, L. 1997. Accelerated degradation and mineralization of atrazine in surface and subsurface soil materials. Pestic. Sci. 49:237242.3.0.CO;2-4>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wackett, L. P., Sadowsky, M. J., Martinez, B., and Shapir, N. 2002. Biodegradation of atrazine and related s-triazine compounds: from enzymes to field studies. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 58:3945.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, Y. S., Duh, J. R., Lang, Y. F., and Chen, Y. L. 1995. Dissipation of three s-triazine herbicides, atrazine, simazine, and ametryn, in subtropical soils. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 55:351358.Google Scholar
Winkelmann, D. A. and Klaine, S. J. 1991. Degradation and bound residue formation of atrazine in a Western Tennessee soil. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 10:335345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolf, D. C., Dao, T. H., Scott, H. D., and Lavy, T. L. Influence of sterilization methods on selected soil microbiological, physical, and chemical properties. J. Environ. Qual. 18:3944.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Workman, S. R., Ward, A. D., Fausey, N. R., and Nokes, S. E. 1995. Atrazine and alachlor dissipation rates from field experiments. Trans. Am. Soc. Agric. Eng. 38:14211425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yassir, A., Lagacherie, B., Houot, S., and Soulas, G. 1999. Microbial aspects of atrazine biodegradation in relation to history of soil treatment. Pestic. Sci. 55:799809.3.0.CO;2-P>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zablotowicz, R. M., Weaver, M. A., and Locke, M. A. 2006. Microbial adaptation for accelerated atrazine mineralization/degradation in Mississippi Delta soils. Weed Sci. 54:538547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar