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Effects of bacteria on metal bioavailability, speciation, and mobility in different metal mine soils: a column study

  • SOILS, SEC 4 • ECOTOXICOLOGY • RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Abstract

Purpose

Successful phytoremediation depends mainly on the bioavailability of heavy metals in the soil. Recently, soil microbes possess several mechanisms that are able to change metal bioavailability in the soil, which provides a new strategy for investigating biogeochemical cycling of metals in contaminated soils. Three metal mines soils with elevated concentrations of Cd, Pb, and Zn from China were applied in this column study to (1) evaluate the effects of metal tolerant bacterial inoculation (Burkholderia cepacia, accession number: AB051408) on metal release, (2) monitor the migration of metals in the rhizospheric horizon (0–20 cm), and (3) investigate metal speciation and sequential fractions in soil.

Materials and methods

All soils were air dried, crushed to pass through a 2-mm sieve and then autoclaved at 121°C for 2 h. The control soil was then mixed with different metal polluted soils, respectively, at four percentages (w/w), prior to being packed into polyvinyl chloride (PVC) columns. Four PVC columns were added with B. cepacia peat-based inocula, and the final concentration of the bacteria is 3.0 × 108 cell/g soil. The other four columns received the same amount of the autoclaved peat-based inocula (without bacteria) in order to keep the soil texture and other properties similar. The columns were applied with 80 mL deionized water daily for 12 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the soil samples from two horizons (0–10 and 10–20 cm) were collected for physico-chemical and metal speciation analyses.

Results and discussion

Results indicated that bacterial inoculation significantly enhanced the extractability of water-soluble Cd, Cu, and Zn (single-chemical extraction) in all metal mine soil treatments. However, inoculation of bacteria had a minor effect on As and Pb extractability. Increasing water-soluble and Olsen-P in soil solution induced by the presence of bacteria may contribute to the decrease of water-soluble Pb through sedimentation of Pb phosphate. Bacterial inoculation also increased the mobility of heavy metals (sequential chemical extraction). HOAc-soluble Cd and Zn increased as the pH value decreased since the metal adsorption on colloids weakened due to a decrease in pH-dependent negative charge. In addition, a significant increase in water-soluble N, P, NaHCO3-extractable P, and soil acid phosphatase activity were observed.

Conclusions

Based on the above results, it can be concluded that metal tolerant bacteria are efficient in increasing the bioavailability of Cd and Zn when expressed relative to the control treatment, which might be of great significance for the successful phytoextraction of metal polluted sites.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support from the Research Grants Council of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong (CERG: HKBU 2181/03M) is greatly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Croucher Institute for Environmental Sciences, and Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, SAR, People’s Republic of China

    Wai Chin Li & Ming-Hung Wong

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  1. Wai Chin Li
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  2. Ming-Hung Wong
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Correspondence to Ming-Hung Wong.

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Responsible editor: Kirk Semple

Electronic supplementary material

Tables S1–7 and Figs. S1–5, regarding statistical analysis of the results and plots of metal concentration in soil solution during the 12-week incubation period can be found in electronic supplementary material and can be accessed online.

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Li, W.C., Wong, MH. Effects of bacteria on metal bioavailability, speciation, and mobility in different metal mine soils: a column study. J Soils Sediments 10, 313–325 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-009-0165-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-009-0165-y

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