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Biochemical characterization, microbial diversity and biodegradability of coastal sediments in the Gulf of Gabès, Southern Mediterranean Sea

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Abstract

Coastal sediments are considered to be final receptacles for organic and inorganic contaminants. Characterizing those sediments and assessing their biodegradation potential have become a great challenge in recent years. In this study, the chemical composition, including the content in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the microbial community abundance and diversity (using culture-independent approaches targeting 16S rRNA genes), and the aerobic/anaerobic biodegradation potential of coastal sediments collected in the Sfax coastal area (Gulf of Gabès, Southern Mediterranean Sea) were investigated. The highest concentration of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (981 µg kg−1 dw) was recorded in Sidi Mansour harbor sediment, emphasized pyrogenic and petrogenic hydrocarbon sources. Organic matter, including total organic carbon, and the ultimate aerobic biodegradability, with 30% as the highest value in Sidi Salem channel sediment, were in a positive accordance with bacterial communities assigned within Actinobacteria, Clostridia and Flavobacteria classes. The correlation noticed between Thermocladium and Thermogladius genera and sulfate content explained that Sidi Mansour and PK4 sediments are located in terrestrial acid–sulfate areas. The highest cumulative methane produced with Marseille inoculum and Tunisian inoculum was recorded in Sidi Salem sediment and strongly correlated with methanogens among Methanobacteria, Methanococci and Methanomicobia classes showing the presence of industrial and municipal sources. The bioavailability of low and moderate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the current study may explain the occurrence of Methanobacterium which positively correlated with the anaerobic biodegradability using Tunisian inoculum with 50% as the highest value in Sidi Mansour sediment.

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Acknowledgements

This work received the financial support of the IRD French-Tunisian International Joint Laboratory (LMI) “COSYS-Med” (Contaminants et Ecosystèmes Sud Méditerranéens), http://www.cosysmed.com/. Mariem Jeddi was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Tunisia, in the frame of “Contract Programme” with Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax. We acknowledge Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology (LBE, Univ Montpellier, INRA, Narbonne, France) for performing aerobic and anaerobic potential analyses, PAH analysis and also chemical analysis. We acknowledge Laboratory of Phytoplanctonology of the Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Université de Carthage, Bizerte, Tunisia, for statistical analyses. We thank as well Doriane Delanghe from the sedimentology laboratory of the Centre Européen de Recherche et d’Enseignement des Géosciences de l’Environnement (CEREGE, UMR 7330, Aix-en Provence, France) for particle size distribution analysis (granulometry).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Environmental Bioprocesses, Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax, B.P 1177, 3018, Sfax, Tunisia

    M. Jeddi, F. Karray, H. Zaghden & N. Mhiri

  2. LBE, INRA, Univ Montpellier, Narbonne, France

    A. Battimelli, A. Danel, P. Sousbie & D. Patureau

  3. Laboratoire de Phytoplanctonologie, Faculté Des Sciences de Bizerte, Université de Carthage, Bizerte, Tunisia

    S. Melliti Ben Garali

  4. CNRS, IRD, Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, MIO UM 110, 13288, Marseille, France

    M. Tedetti

  5. Center for Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, 2713, Doha, Qatar

    S. Sayadi

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Jeddi, M., Karray, F., Battimelli, A. et al. Biochemical characterization, microbial diversity and biodegradability of coastal sediments in the Gulf of Gabès, Southern Mediterranean Sea. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 2389–2408 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03307-0

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