Source identification of beached oil at Al Zubarah, Northwestern Qatar

Evidencing the diversity and needs of adjustment of the nutritional requirements for hydrocarbon-degrading activity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa adapted to harsh conditions using 2nfull factorial design

“…Sampling was carried-out as previously reported. 14 The pH of the soil samples was ranging between 7.0 and 7.5, and temperatures between 35 and 40 C.…”

“…The capability of each strain to degrade diesel hydrocarbons was examined through Gas Chromatography Analysis (GC-FID) as previously reported in our laboratory. 13,14 Removal efficiency of diesel components RE (%) was calculated as percentage of decrease of the area corresponding to each hydrocarbon peak in the chromatograms in comparison to the abiotic control. RE (%) ¼ 100 À (A s  100/A c ), with A s is area of the peak, and A c the area of the peak as obtained in the culture serving as control.…”

“…Isolation of three strains of P. aeruginosa was performed according to an isolation strategy of hydrocarbondegrading bacteria from weathered soils as previously showed. 13,14 A factorial experimental design was applied to investigate the correlation between growth parameters and hydrocarbon-degradation activity. The chosen model was Linear additive model for a Completely Randomized Design (CRD).…”

Potential for native hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria to remediate highly weathered oil-polluted soils in Qatar through self-purification and bioaugmentation in biopiles

“…Oil is discharged to the environment as waste during anthropogenic activities and through spillages, and oil in the environment is subjected to weathering processes, particularly under extreme conditions especially in the summer season (mean temperature 34.9 °C, relative humidity of 58 %, daily sunshine of 10.6 h, solar radiation of 584.7 mW h/sq.cm and wind speed of 26 km/h) [ 1 , 2 ]. In a recent study it was found that oil pollution has occurred in limited specific areas in Qatar but extensive weathering caused by the harsh weather in Qatar has led to oil in these areas being at different stages of oxidation [ 3 ]. Microbial remediation is an attractive strategy for decreasing the effects of high degrees of pollution with mixtures of complex molecules [ 4 , 5 ].…”

“…In order to demonstrate such hypothesis, wethered oil pollution of soil was investigated at two sites in Qatar. The study sites were in areas with unique conditions, characterized with dry soil, harsh weather conditions and weathered oil left for self-purification for more than three years [ 3 ]. They are the coastal area in AlZubara beach and the oil-waste dumping site in the industrial area of Dukhan [ 3 ].…”