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Recovery of microbial diversity and activity during bioremediation following chemical oxidation of diesel contaminated soils

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

To improve the coupling of in situ chemical oxidation and in situ bioremediation, a systematic analysis was performed of the effect of chemical oxidation with Fenton's reagent, modified Fenton's reagent, permanganate, or persulfate, on microbial diversity and activity during 8 weeks of incubation in two diesel-contaminated soils (peat and fill). Chemical oxidant and soil type affected the microbial community diversity and biodegradation activity; however, this was only observed following treatment with Fenton's reagent and modified Fenton's reagent, and in the biotic control without oxidation. Differences in the highest overall removal efficiencies of 69 % for peat (biotic control) and 59 % for fill (Fenton's reagent) were partially explained by changes in contaminant soil properties upon oxidation. Molecular analysis of 16S rRNA and alkane monooxygenase (alkB) gene abundances indicated that oxidation with Fenton's reagent and modified Fenton's reagent negatively affected microbial abundance. However, regeneration occurred, and final relative alkB abundances were 1–2 orders of magnitude higher in chemically treated microcosms than in the biotic control. 16S rRNA gene fragment fingerprinting with DGGE and prominent band sequencing illuminated microbial community composition and diversity differences between treatments and identified a variety of phylotypes within Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammaproteobacteria. Understanding microbial community dynamics during coupled chemical oxidation and bioremediation is integral to improved biphasic field application.

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Acknowledgments

This research is funded by the European Union Consortium Upsoil, a Seventh Framework Program within Theme 6, number 226956 (www.upsoil.eu). HS and FM received support through the EcoLinc project of the Netherlands Genomics Initiative. The authors would also like to thank Janusz Krupanek, Mariusz Kalisz (Instytut Ekologii Terenow Uprzemyslowionych, Poland), and Jan Marek (Przedsiebiorstwo Oczyszczania Wodi Ziemi, Poland) for logistical support during field sampling. Wobbe Schuurmans (CBLB, The Netherlands) is acknowledged for his analytical support. Finally, the authors thank Eulalia Martinez-Pascual (University of Barcelona) for assistance with qPCR protocols.

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  1. Alette A. M. Langenhoff

    Present address: Department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University, PO Box 17, 6700 EV, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University, PO Box 17, 6700 EV, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Nora B. Sutton, Daniel Hidalgo Lasso, Tim Grotenhuis & Huub H. M. Rijnaarts

  2. Subsurface and Groundwater Systems, Deltares, P.O. Box 85467, 3508 AL, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Alette A. M. Langenhoff, Bas van der Zaan & Pauline van Gaans

  3. Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Dreijenplein 10, 6703 HB, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Farai Maphosa & Hauke Smidt

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Sutton, N.B., Langenhoff, A.A.M., Lasso, D.H. et al. Recovery of microbial diversity and activity during bioremediation following chemical oxidation of diesel contaminated soils. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 98, 2751–2764 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-013-5256-4

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