Effects of Nonionic Surfactant Addition on Populations of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria in a Bioreactor Treating Contaminated Soil

We studied the effects of two polyethoxylated nonionic surfactants, Brij 30 and C12E8, on populations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon- (PAH-) degrading bacteria from a bioreactor treating PAR-contaminated soil. Each surfactant was evaluated at doses that corresponded to aqueous-phase concentrations both above and below the critical micelle concentration (CMC) after mixing with reactor slurry. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to quantify 16S rRNA (rRNA) gene sequences representing degraders of salicylate, naphthalene, phenanthrene, or pyrene previously identified in the bioreactor community by stable-isotope probing. Sequences representing two groups of organisms associated with degradation of naphthalene and/or salicylate in the bioreactor increased in abundance by more than an order of magnitude after incubation with either surfactant at each dose tested. In contrast, the abundance of a group of uncultivated pyrene-degrading bacteria, whose relative abundance in the soil without surfactant addition was up to 9% of the total 16S rRNA genes, decreased by an order of magnitude or more in the presence of each surfactant at each dose. These results indicate that surfactant addition can have substantial, differential effects on populations of organisms responsible for contaminant degradation within a microbial community.