Estimation of atrazine-degrading genetic potential and activity in three French agricultural soils

The impact of organic amendment (sewage sludge or waste water) used to fertilize agricultural soils was estimated on the atrazine-degrading activity, the atrazine-degrading genetic potential and the bacterial community structure of soils continuously cropped with corn. Long-term application of organic amendment did not modify atrazine-mineralizing activity, which was found to essentially depend on the soil type. It also did not modify atrazine-degrading genetic potential estimated by quantitative PCR targeting atzA, B and C genes, which was shown to depend on soil type. The structure of soil bacterial community determined by RISA fingerprinting was significantly affected by organic amendmen…