Degradation of atrazine by plants and microbes

Abstract

Application of herbicides (or pesticides) is inevitable in the management practices of crop production in modern agriculture. Synthetic chemicals are designed to target eradication of weeds through specific mechanisms to minimize their competition with crop plants for use of nutrients and water from agricultural fields. Despite of all precautions, herbicides also adversely affect crops, microbes and animals. The use of herbicides not only affects the crop growth and development, but also the quality of crops. Thus, the herbicide pollutes the food chain, threatening the human health at large. Hence, there is an impending need to develop strategies to minimize the soil pesticide residues, water contamination and the toxicity of herbicides.