Degradation of Atrazine by an Anaerobic Microbial Consortium Enriched from Soil of an Herbicide-Manufacturing Plant

Atrazine is an important herbicide that is widely used in agriculture. However, its residue pollutes the environment and thus its catabolism raises great concern. Anaerobic degradation is the main atrazine degradation pathway in the environment, however, the whole degradation pathway and the microorganisms involved remain unknown. In this study, an anaerobic sludge capable of efficiently degrading high concentration of atrazine was enriched from a river sediment.