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The influence of nickel on the bioremediation of multi-component contaminated tropical soil: microcosm and batch bioreactor studies

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Abstract

Large petrochemical discharges are responsible for organic and inorganic pollutants in the environment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of nickel, one of the most abundant inorganic element in crude oil and the main component of hydrogen catalysts for oil refining, on the microbial community structure in artificially petroleum-contaminated microcosms and in solid phase bioreactor studies. In the presence of metals, the oil biodegradation in microcosms was significantly delayed during the first 7 days of operation. Also, increasing amounts of moisture generated a positive influence on the biodegradation processes. The oil concentration, exhibiting the most negative influence at the end of the treatment period. Molecular fingerprinting analyses (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis—DGGE) indicated that the inclusion of nickel into the contaminated soil promoted direct changes to the microbial community structure. By the end of the experiments, the results of the total petroleum hydrocarbons removal in the bioreactor and the microcosm were similar, but reductions in the treatment times were observed with the bioreactor experiments. An analysis of the microbial community structure by DGGE using various markers showed distinct behaviors between two treatments containing high nickel concentrations. The main conclusion of this study was that Nickel promotes a significant delay in oil biodegradation, despite having only a minor effect over the microbial community.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to express our appreciation to the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (MCTI) for the infrastructure support and Adriana Ururahy Soriano from Petrobras for technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biochemistry Department, Chemistry School, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Natália Franco Taketani & Selma Gomes Ferreira Leite

  2. Coordination of Metallurgical and Environmental Process, Centre of Mineral Technology, Av. Pedro Calmon, 900 - Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP: 21941-908, Brazil

    Natália Franco Taketani, Andrea Camardella de Lima Rizzo & Cláudia Duarte da Cunha

  3. Environmental Microbiology, Embrapa Environment, Jaguariúna, SP, Brazil

    Rodrigo Gouvêa Taketani

  4. Center of Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

    Rodrigo Gouvêa Taketani & Siu Mui Tsai

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  1. Natália Franco Taketani
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  2. Rodrigo Gouvêa Taketani
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  3. Selma Gomes Ferreira Leite
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  6. Cláudia Duarte da Cunha
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Correspondence to Natália Franco Taketani.

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Taketani, N.F., Taketani, R.G., Leite, S.G.F. et al. The influence of nickel on the bioremediation of multi-component contaminated tropical soil: microcosm and batch bioreactor studies. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 31, 1127–1135 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-015-1862-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-015-1862-x

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