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Isolation and characterization of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa from a virgin Brazilian Amazon region with potential to degrade atrazine

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Abstract

The use of pesticides to increase agricultural production can result in the contamination of the environment, causing changes in the genetic structure of organisms and in the loss of biodiversity. This practice is also inducing changes in the rainforest ecosystem. In this work, a Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from a preservation soil area of the Brazilian Amazon Forest, without usage of any pesticide, was evaluated for its potential to degrade atrazine. This isolate presented all responsible genes (atzA, atzB, atzC, atzD, atzE, and atzF) for atrazine mineralization and demonstrated capacity to use atrazine as a nitrogen source, having achieved a reduction of 44 % of the initial concentration of atrazine after 24 h. These results confirm gene dispersion and/or a possible contamination of the area with the herbicide, which reinforces global concern of the increase and intensive use of pesticides worldwide.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Michael Sadowsky, professor at the University of Minnesota, USA, who kindly provided us the strain Pseudomonas sp. ADP. We also thank John Carpenter for the English language revision.

Funding

This study was supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP, grants 2009/16657-3 and 2013/19401-5).

Conflicts of interest

All authors declare that they have no competing financial interests or other conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Toxicológicas e Bromatológicas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, USP-Ribeirão Preto, Av. do Café S/N. Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil, 14040-903

    Ana Flavia Tonelli Fernandes, Michelle Barbosa Partata da Silva, Vinicius Vicente Martins & Eliana Guedes Stehling

  2. Curso de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de Ribeirão Preto (UNAERP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil

    Carlos Eduardo Saraiva Miranda

Authors
  1. Ana Flavia Tonelli Fernandes
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  2. Michelle Barbosa Partata da Silva
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  3. Vinicius Vicente Martins
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  4. Carlos Eduardo Saraiva Miranda
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  5. Eliana Guedes Stehling
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Correspondence to Eliana Guedes Stehling.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Fernandes, A.F.T., da Silva, M.B.P., Martins, V.V. et al. Isolation and characterization of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa from a virgin Brazilian Amazon region with potential to degrade atrazine. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 13974–13978 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3316-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3316-7

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