Degradation of Atrazine by Hornwort in Aquatic Systems

Abstract

Hornwort (Ceratophyllum deinersuin) incubated in the presence of 1 mg L−1 14C atrazine in an aqueous nutrient solution became radioactive. Microscopic autoradiography was used to investigate the localization of 14C atrazine in a hornwort/epiphyte system. Radioactivity was present within the plant tissue (and also in the nutrient solution), with larger quantities in mature tissue, including stems compared with young tissue. An irregular distribution of black silver granules (which indicate radioactivity) was observable on the plant surface, suggesting the possible involvement of epiphytes (plant surface microorganisms) in the degradation process. Labeled compounds in the extracted plant included atrazine and a major metabolite that may have been an artrazine-glutathione connjugate. Concentrations of atrazine and the metabolite, and the fraction of the metabolite (based on total radioactivity), all in the extracted plant, were dependent on the initial atrazine concentration in the solution. The degradation process was light dependent and the analyses of the nutrient solution indicated that the first half-life of atrazine in the presence of hornwort was 5 days under day/night conditions, while only about 30% of initial atrazine disappeared after 3 weeks under complete dark. The major metabolite in the solution was identified as deethylatrazine.