Atrazine, 2-chloro-4-(ethylamino)-6-(isopropylamino)-s-triazine, is an herbicide widely used to control the pre- and post- emergence of broad-leaf weeds in major crop lands. Due to the compounds high mobility in soils and its persistence, atrazine is often detected as a contaminant in surface and ground water systems and is the cause of many adverse health effects. In the search for bioremediation options researchers have isolated the bacterium Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP (ADP), which can remove atrazine from contaminated reserves. This organism has been found to grow as a biofilm. The purpose of this research is to examine the gene expression in organisms within a biofilm using in situ reverse transcriptase (ISRT). ISRT enables the detection of transcripts (mRNA) of a functional gene inside cells by labeling the transcripts within the cell instead of amplifying the target gene. Essentially, a target sequence will be labeled by a reverse transcriptase enzyme using a fluorescent nucleotide; increasing the chances of detection of low copy number RNA. In addition, this research will discuss Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) which will be used to determine atrazine concentrations and degradation rates. Success of this research will lead to a firmer grasp of scientific fundamentals associated with the capacity of microbial biofilms to degrade pollutants. Such information will ultimately lead to improved remediation applications, reduced pollutant-associated illness and general methodologies for analysis of biofilm."