A Comparative Study on the Mineralization and Bacterial Community Responses to Atrazine in Three Typical Agricultural Soils
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X172;X592

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Supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA28030501)

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    Abstract:

    【Objective】 Atrazine is a chlorotriazine herbicide, which interferes with photosynthesis in some broadleaf plants and is widely used on corn, sorghum, and sugarcane. Residual atrazine may persist in agricultural soil for an extended period due to its long half-life, posing threats to succeeding crops and human health. The fate of atrazine in the environment is normally regulated by lots of pedological and microbial factors. However, the biodegradability of atrazine across soil types as well as the underlying microbial mechanisms remains elusive. In this study, it is aimed to compare the mineralization dynamics of atrazine and bacterial community responses in three typic agricultural soils. 【Method】 Three upland soils classified as black soil (BS), fluvo-aquic soil (FA) and red soil (RS), were collected from corn fields located in geographically distinct areas of China. Soil microcosms spiked with a 14C tracer were established and mineralization of atrazine to CO2 was monitored during an 56-days incubation. In parallel, the soil bacterial communities in atrazine-added or clean soil (as a control) microcosms were examined using quantitative PCR and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. 【Result】 The fastest mineralization of atrazine occurred in the FA soil, while the RS showed minimal mineralization activity. The accumulative mineralization over 56 d was 75.2%, 35.5%, and 0.810% of the initially added tracer in the FA, BS, and RS, respectively. Fitting the CO2 curves with the Gompertz model obtained distinct parameters of accumulative mineralization, maximal rate, and lag time for the three soils. Atrazine markedly increased the abundance of the triazine hydrolase (trzN) gene in the FA and BS soils, and caused significant enrichment of Paenarthrobacter in FA. In light of the well-documented degradation capacity of Paenarthrobacter-related bacteria, this genus perhaps played a major role in atrazine mineralization in the FA soil. Nevertheless, it was impossible to link any taxon to atrazine degradation in the BS microcosms. Nevertheless, an acidic pH (4.16) might account for the particularly low mineralization in the RS. Moreover, the three soils displayed contrasting bacterial community responses to atrazine contamination. In the FA, atrazine was used as a growth substrate, enhancing interspecies cooperation as indicated by increased positive correlation in the co-occurrence network whereas the BS community was less sensitive to atrazine. Residual atrazine severely impacted the structure and diversity of the bacterial community in RS, implicating potential ecological risks to this acidic soil. 【Conclusion】 These findings highlight the substantial differences in atrazine mineralization and resultant bacterial community responses in different soils, indicating an association between herbicide residue and soil type, thus providing a scientific basis for the safe use and pollution control of herbicides.

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YANG Zhongqin, CHEN Yuzhu, RAO Leizhen, ZENG Jun, LIN Xiangui, WU Yucheng. A Comparative Study on the Mineralization and Bacterial Community Responses to Atrazine in Three Typical Agricultural Soils[J]. Acta Pedologica Sinica,2025,62(6):1711-1721.

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History
  • Received:November 12,2024
  • Revised:April 21,2025
  • Adopted:June 17,2025
  • Online: June 19,2025
  • Published:
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