Remarkable impact of PAHs and TPHs on the richness and diversity of bacterial species in surface soils exposed to long-term hydrocarbon pollution

Abstract

Nowadays, because of substantial use of petroleum-derived fuels the number and extension of hydrocarbon polluted terrestrial ecosystems is in growth worldwide. In remediation of aforementioned sites bioremediation still tends to be an innovative, environmentally attractive technology. Although huge amount of information is available concerning the hydrocarbon degradation potential of cultivable hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria little is known about the in situ long-term effects of petroleum derived compounds on the structure of soil microbiota. Therefore, in this study our aim was to determine the longterm impact of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs), volatile petroleum hydrocarbons (VPHs), total alkyl benzenes (TABs) as well as of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on the structure of bacterial communities of four different contaminated soil samples. Our results indicated that a very high amount of TPH affected positively the diversity of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria. This finding was supported by the occurrence of representatives of the a-, b-, c-Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Flavobacteriia and Bacilli classes. High concentration of VPHs and TABs contributed to the predominance of actinobacterial isolates. In PAH impacted samples the concentration of PAHs negatively correlated with the diversity of bacterial species. Heavily PAH polluted soil samples were mainly inhabited by the representatives of the b-, cProteobacteria (overwhelming dominance of Pseudomonas sp.) and Actinobacteria.

Microbial contamination of Capsicum annuum irrigated with recycled domestic wastewater treated by vertical-flow wetlands

“…Table 6 shows that the microbial contamination of outflow water from wetland filters contaminated with hydrocarbons was higher than those from standard filters (uncontaminated). This confirms findings by Benedek et al (2013), who studied the impact of long-term TPH, volatile petroleum hydrocarbons, total alkyl benzenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the structure of bacterial communities. The results indicated that a very high concentration of TPH affected positively the diversity of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria.…”

“…Moreover, traces of hydrocarbons from diesel spills associated with urban runoff or industrial effluent are a more recent challenge (Scholz, 2010;García-Delgado et al, 2012). Furthermore, Benedek et al (2013) studied the impact of long-term total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), volatile petroleum hydrocarbons, total alkyl benzenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the structure of bacterial communities of four different contaminated soil samples. They concluded that a very high amount of TPH affected positively the diversity of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria.…”

Microbial Ecology Dynamics during Rye and Wheat Sourdough Preparation

“…Flours and doughs, before fermentation, were contaminated by metabolically active phyla, which likely represented the outcome of environmental contamination. Usually, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes dominate the wheat root endosphere (34), Cyanobacteria are present in freshwater environments (35), and Proteobacteria are found in wastewater, forage feed, and soils (36). Genera belonging to Proteobacteria (e.g., Acinetobacter, Pantoea, Pseudomonas, Comamonas, Enterobacter, Erwinia, and Sphingomonas) and Bacteroidetes (e.g., Chryseobacterium) phyla were mainly identified.…”

Hydrocarbon pollution does not influence bacterial diversity as much as geographic location: a Korean case study

“…In fact, some known TPH decomposers, such as Pseudomonas sp., are present in all samples, irrespective of the TPH levels (Obayori et al 2009). Although many studies suggest that changes in soil hydrocarbon content result in characteristic shifts in microbial populations, particularly in the abundance of bacteria utilizing hydrocarbons (Benedek et al 2013;Maila et al 2006;Bundy et al 2002;Baek et al 2007), we present that environmental parameters should be taken into consideration while arriving at such conclusion. A multi-dimensional approach involving environmental factors, contamination levels, soil characteristics, and microbial community analysis is required to arrive at a definitive conclusion (Juck et al 2000).…”

“…While in situ bioremediation is usually preferred considering its applicability and low cost, there are still questions over use of indigenous microorganisms or external consortium. Many studies have been performed to examine to the role of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) levels in determining the microbial diversity of contaminated soils (Maila et al 2006;Benedek et al 2013). However, biodegradation of TPH is also affected by chemical, geochemical, and biological factors, including soil physico-chemical characteristics, chemical structure and type of oil; quantity and bioavailability of the Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13762-014-0578-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.…”