Abstract
The objective of the present study is to isolate PAH-degradativebacteria from petroleum-contaminated soils and to optimize theirdegradative conditions including pH, glucose, nitrogen andphenanthrene concentrations required for bioremediationpurposes. Several bacterial strains were isolated throughenrichment and one strain, Burkholderia cocovenenans (BU-3)that was tentatively identified by the Biolog system,demonstrated a high removal rate of phenanthrene over otherstrains. More than 95% in 100 and 500 mg L-1 and 65% in1000 mg L-1 of phenanthrene contents was reduced in theculture media, respectively. Maximum rate of phenanthrene removalup to 4.2 mg hr-1 occurred in the culture containing 1000 mgL-1 phenanthrene. Media at a pH between 6.5 to 7.0 weremore favorable for the degradation of phenanthrene by BU-3.Although increasing glucose concentrations from 0.45 to 3 gL-1 resulted in a better bacterial growth of the isolatedbacteria, the degradation of phenanthrene was reducedsignificantly. Nitrogen supplement did not exert a significanteffect on bacterial growth and phenanthrene degradation. Theisolated Burkholderia cocovenenans BU-3 demonstrated to bea feasible strain for degradation of phenanthrene at a neutralpH, even up to a phenanthrene concentration of 1000 mg L-1.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berardesco, G., Dyhrman, S., Gallagher, E. and Shiaris, M. P.: 1998, 'Spatial and temporal variation of phenanthrene-degrading bacteria in intertidal sediments', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64, 2560.
Bogan, B. W. and Lamar, R. T.: 1995, 'One-electron oxidation in the degradation of creosote poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by Phanerochaete chrysosporium', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64, 2631.
Boldrin, B., Tiehm, A. and Fritzsche, C.: 1993, 'Degradation of phenanthrene, fluorene, fluoranthene, and pyrene by a Mycobacterium sp.', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 59, 1827.
Bouchez, M., Blanchet, D. and Vandecasteele, J. P.: 1995, 'Substrate availability in phenanthrene biodegradation: Transfer mechanism and influence on metabolism', Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 43, 952.
Carmichael, L. M. and Pfaender, F. K.: 1997, 'The affect of inorganic and organic supplements on the microbial degradation of phenanthrene and pyrene in soils', Biodegradation 8, 1.
Davies, J. I. and Evans, W. C.: 1964, 'Oxidative metabolism of naphthalene by soil Pseudomonads', Biochem. J. 91, 251.
Dean-Ross, D. and Cerniglia, C. E.: 1996, 'Degradation of pyrene by Mycobacterium flavescens', Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 46, 307.
Efroymson, R. A. and Alexander, M.: 1994, 'Biodegradation of in soil of hydrophobic pollutants in nonaqueous-phase liquids (NAPLS)', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 13, 405.
Gauthier, M. J., Lafay, B., Christen, R., Fernandez, L., Acquaviva, M., Bonin, P. and Betrand, J. C.: 1992, 'Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus gen. Nov., sp. Nov., a new, extremely halotolerant, hydrocarbon-degrading marine bacterium', Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 42, 568.
Geiselbrecht, A. D., Hedlund, B. P., Tichi, M. A. and Staley, J. T.: 1998, 'Isolation of marine polycyc-lic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-degrading Cycloclasticus strains from the gulf of Mexico and comparison of their PAH degradation ability with that of Puget sound Cycloclasticus strains', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64, 4703.
Gohosh, D. K. and Mishra, A. K.: 1983, 'Oxidation of phenanthrene a strain of Micrococcus: Evidence of protocatechuate pathway', Curr. Microbiol. 9, 219.
Goyal, A. K. and Zylstra, G. J.: 1996, 'Molecular cloning of novel genes for polycyclic hydrocarbon degradation from Comamonas testosteroni GZ39', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62, 230.
Grifoll, M., Casellas, M., Bayona, J. M. and Solanas, A. M.: 1992, 'Isolation and characterization of a fluorene-degrading bacterium: Identification of ring oxidation and ring fission products', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58, 2910.
Hinchee, R. E., Leeson, A., Semprini, L. and Ong, S. O.: 1994, Bioremediation of Chlorinated and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Compounds, CRC Press, Inc.
Joshi, M. M. and Lee, S.: 1995, 'Biological remediation of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon contaminated soils using Acinetobacter sp.', Energ. Sour. 18, 167.
Juhasz, A. L., Britz, M. L. and Stanley, G. A.: 1997, 'Degradation of fluoranthene, pyrene, benz[a]anthracene and dibenz[a,h]anthracene by Burkholderia cepacia', J. Appl. Microbiol. 83, 189.
Kastner, M., Breuer-Jammali, M. and Mahro, B.: 1998, 'Impact of inoculation protocols, salinity and pH on the degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and survival of PAH-degrading bacteria introduced into soil', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64, 359.
Kiyohara, H. and Nagao, K.: 1978, 'The catabolism of phenanthrene and naphthalene by bacteria', J. Gen. Microbiol. 105, 691.
Little, T. M. and Hills, J. J.: 1978, Agricultural Experimentation: Design and Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.
Lowry, O. H., Rosebrough, N. J., Farr, A. L. and Randall, R. J.: 1951, 'Protein measurement with the Folin Phenol reagent', J. Biol. Chem. 193, 265.
Mueller, J. G., Chapman, P. J., Blattmann, B. O. and Pritchard, P. H.: 1990, 'Isolation and characteris-tion of a fluoranthene-utilizating strain of Pseudomonas paucimobilis', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 56, 1079.
Sepic, E., Bricelj, M. and Leskovsek, H.: 1997, 'Biodegradation studies of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in aqueous media', J. Appl. Microbiol. 83, 561.
Shiaris, M. P. and Cooney, J. J.: 1983, 'Replica plating method for estimating phenanthrene-utilizing and phenanthrene-cometabolizing microorganisms', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 45, 706.
Stapleton, R. D., Savage, D. C., Sayler, G. S. and Stacey, G.: 1998, 'Biodegradation of aromatic hydrocarbons in an extremely acidic environment', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64, 4180.
Stefenson, W. A. and Alexander, M.: 1995, 'Role of competition for inorganic nutrients in the biodegradation of mixtures of substrates', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61, 2859.
Swindoll, C. M., Aelion, C. M. and Pfaender, F. K.: 1988, 'Influence of inorganic and organic nutrients on aerobic biodegradation and on the adaptation responses of subsurface microbial communities', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 54, 212.
Tagger, S., Truffaunt, N. and Le Petit, J.: 1990, 'Preliminary study of relationships among strains forming a bacterial community selected on naphthalene from a marine sediment', Can. J. Microbiol. 36, 676.
Thomas, J. M., Lee, M. D., Scott, M. J. and Ward, C. H.: 1989, 'Microbial ecology of the subsurface at an abandoned creosote waste site', J. Ind. Microbiol. 4, 109.
Tiehm, A.: 1994, 'Degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the presence of synthetic surfactants', Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 60, 258.
Weissenfels, W. D., Beyer, M. and Klein, J.: 1990, 'Degradation of phenanthrene, fluorene and fluoranthene by pure bacterial cultures', App. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 32, 479.
Wodzinski, R. S. and Coyle, J. E.: 1974, 'Physical state of phenanthrene for utilization by bacteria', Appl. Microbiol. 27, 1081.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wong, J.W.C., Lai, K.M., Wan, C.K. et al. Isolation and Optimization of PAH-Degradative Bacteria from Contaminated Soil for PAHs Bioremediation. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 139, 1–13 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015883924901
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015883924901