Atrazine; a member of s-triazine group, is a preferred herbicide used globally either individually or as adjunct with other herbicides. Beside its use, problem arises because of its low degradability leading to elevation of Atrazine concentration above the permissible limit resulting in the contamination of soil and water which eventually can greatly affect the living organisms. This contamination level of Atrazine in soil and water can be effectively determined by using high performance liquid chromatography; one of the most effective tool to analyze or quantify the concentration of any compound residues and its byproducts. This study was aimed to isolate the microorganisms capable to degrade Atrazine from soil, obtained from farmed areas of Gomal University D. I. Khan in December, 2011, having history of at least eight years continuous exposure to Atrazine. Isolated fungal and bacterial strains were observed for their potential to degrade Atrazine. Fungal isolates were identified on the basis of colony morphology and spore characteristics while bacteria were identified on the basis of the biochemical parameters. Out of twelve fungal strains, Aspergilus fumigates showed the highest biodegradation rate (58.24%) while the lowest biodegradation was shown by Aspergillus terreus (17.56%). Among the bacterial isolates three were Gram negative and five were Gram positive. The highest degradation potential (62.77%) was shown by Streptococcus specie while E. coli with lowest degradation rate (26.48%). Bacteria showed more average degradation potential than fungal isolates as the total average of degradation rate observed was 44.62% by bacteria and 40% by fungal isolates.
