Journal
MICROORGANISMS
Volume 10, Issue 11, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10112267
Keywords
petroleum contamination; bioremediation; desert soils; hydrocarbon degraders; biosurfactant producers; soil hydrophobicity
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A crude oil spill in Israel's Negev Desert resulted in soil contamination and decreased soil hydrophobicity, posing a threat to plant survival. Researchers isolated and identified indigenous bacteria capable of producing biosurfactants and degrading hydrocarbons, and found that inoculating these bacteria into the contaminated soil significantly reduced hydrophobicity.
A crude oil spill in 2014 resulted in extensive soil contamination of the hyper arid Evrona Nature Reserve in Israel's Negev Desert. The contaminated soils became highly hydrophobic, threatening the existence of plants in the habitat. We hypothesized that bioaugmenting the soil with indigenous biosurfactant-producing, hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria (HDB) would accelerate the reduction in the soil's hydrophobicity. We aimed to isolate and characterize biosurfactant-producing HDBs from the desert-contaminated soil and test if they can be used for augmenting the soil. Twelve hydrocarbon-degrading strains were isolated, identified as Pseudomonas, and classified as biosurfactants producing and nonproducing. Inoculating 10(9) CFU/g of producing strains into the polluted soil resulted in a 99.2% reduction in soil hydrophobicity within seven days. At the same time, nonproducing strains reduced hydrophobicity by only 17%, while no change was observed in the untreated control. The microbial community in the inoculated soil was dominated by the introduced strains over 28 days, pointing to their persistence. Rhamnolipid biosynthesis gene rhlAB remained persistent in soil inoculated with biosurfactants, indicating in situ production. We propose that the success of the treatment is due to the use of inoculum enriched from the polluted soil.
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