Shapir, N., Soil and Water Institute, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50-250, Israel
Mandelbaum, R.T., Soil and Water Institute, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50-250, Israel
Gottlieb, H., Department of Chemistry, Bar - Ilan University, Ramat - Gan, 52900, Israel

Wastewater from atrazine manufacturing plants contains large amounts of residual atazine and atrazine synthesis products, which must be removed before disposal. One of the obstacles to biological treatment of these wastewaters is their high salt content, eg, up to 4% NaCl (w/v). To enable biological treatment, bacteria capable of atazine mineralization must be adapted to high-salinity conditions. A recently isolated atrazine-degrading bacterium. Pseudomonas sp strain ADP, originally isolated from contaminated soils was adapted to biodegradation of atrazine at salt concentrations relevant to atrazine manufacturing wastewater. The adaptation mechanism was based on the ability of the bacterium to produce trehalose as its main osmolyte. Trehalose accumulation was confirmed by natural-abundance 1H NMR spectral analysis. The bacterium synthesized trehalose de novo in the cells, but could not utilize trehalose added to the growth medium. Interestingly, the bacterium could not produce glycine betaine (a common compatible solute), but addition of 1 mM of glycine betaine to the medium induced salt tolerance. Osmoregulated Pseudomonas sp strain ADP, feeding on citrate decreased the concentration of atrazine in non-sterile authentic wastewater from 25 ppm to below 1 ppm in less than 2 days. The results of our study suggest that salt- adapted Pseudomonas sp strain ADP can be used for atrazine degradation in salt-containing wastewater.