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Microbial degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil by bacterium-fungus co-cultures

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Abstract

Two fungi and the phenanthrene-degrading bacterial strainRhodococcus sp. IC10 were used as inocula for the bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil from a manufactured gas plant area. The two fungi, which were previously isolated from different hydrocarbon-contaminated soil samples, were identified asAspergillus terreus andPenicillium sp. In addition, two types of co-cultures which consist of fungal species includingA. terreus orPenicilium sp. withRhodococcus sp. IC10 were applied. After a 10-week incubation period, the concentrations of anthracene, phenanthrene, and pyrene were totally biodegraded by days 68, 54, and 64, for the 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's) tested. The ecotoxicity of the soil after bioremediation did not show any effect on the survival ofDaphnia magna (24 h-old-daphnids). However, the toxicity on seed germination ofBrassica alba and the oxidoreductase activity ofBacillus cereus declined after 5- and 10-weeks of incubation, respectively. Co-cultures ofPenicillium sp. andRhodococcus sp. IC 10 revealed the best efficiency at reducing ecotoxicity.

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  1. Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University, 402-751, Incheon, Korea

    Jeong-Dong Kim & Choul-Gyun Lee

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  1. Jeong-Dong Kim
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  2. Choul-Gyun Lee
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Correspondence to Choul-Gyun Lee.

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Kim, JD., Lee, CG. Microbial degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil by bacterium-fungus co-cultures. Biotechnol. Bioprocess Eng. 12, 410–416 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02931064

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