Author(s)

Ahmed Faruk Umar, Fatimah Tahir, Michael J. Larkin, Olubukola Mojisola Oyawoye, Balarabe Lawal Musa, Mohammed Bello Yerima, Ediga Bede Agbo

Biological Sciences Programme, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria.
Microbiology Department, Usmanu Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, Nigeria.
Queens University Environmental and Genomic Research (QUESTOR) Center, Queens University of Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.

A batch enrichment technique was used to isolate atrazine-degrading Rhodococcus sp strain from an agricultural land with history of atrazine application in Bauchi state, Northeastern Nigeria. The strain was identified on the basis of physiological, biochemical and 16S r RNA gene sequencing. Growth studies and HPLC analysis showed that the strain has potential of atrazine degradation. An investigation into the catabolic genes Atz ABC, which transform atrazine to cyanuric acid, confirms the chromosomal DNA of strain to harbor BC genes, as compared with the positive control, Rhodococcus jostii RHA1. The strain does not possess the Atz A in all catabolic gene probe carried out. The isolation and characterization of the Rhodococcus sp strain showed that catabolic genes may have evolved from a single origin with widespread global distribution, with possible potential in atrazine bioremediation.

Enrichment; Catabolic Genes; Bioremediation; Atrazine

A. Faruk Umar, F. Tahir, M. J. Larkin, O. Mojisola Oyawoye, B. Lawal Musa, M. Bello Yerima and E. Bede Agbo, "AtzABC Catabolic Gene Probe from Novel Atrazine-Degrading Rhodococcus Strain Isolated from a Nigerian Agricultural Soil," Advances in Microbiology, Vol. 2 No. 4, 2012, pp. 593-597. doi: 10.4236/aim.2012.24077.