Effect of biostimulation and bioaugmentation on hydrocarbon degradation and detoxification of diesel-contaminated soil: a microcosm study

Author(s)

Giovanella, Patricia ^[1] ; Duarte, Lidia de Azevedo ^[1] ; Kita, Daniela Mayumi ^[1] ; de Oliveira, Valeria Maia ^[2] ; Sette, Lara Duraes ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Inst Biosci, Dept Gen & Appl Biol, Lab Environm & Ind Mycol, BR-01049010 Rio Claro, SP - Brazil

^[2] State Univ Campinas UNICAMP, Res Ctr Chem Biol & Agr, Microbial Resources Div, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY; v. 59, n. 7, p. 634-643, JUL 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Soil contamination with diesel oil is quite common during processes of transport and storage. Bioremediation is considered a safe, economical, and environmentally friendly approach for contaminated soil treatment. In this context, studies using hydrocarbon bioremediation have focused on total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) analysis to assess process effectiveness, while ecotoxicity has been neglected. Thus, this study aimed to select a microbial consortium capable of detoxifying diesel oil and apply this consortium to the bioremediation of soil contaminated with this environmental pollutant through different bioremediation approaches. Gas chromatography (GC-FID) was used to analyze diesel oil degradation, while ecotoxicological bioassays with the bioindicators Artemia sp., Aliivibrio fischeri (Microtox), and Cucumis sativus were used to assess detoxification. After 90 days of bioremediation, we found that the biostimulation and biostimulation/bioaugmentation approaches showed higher rates of diesel oil degradation in relation to natural attenuation (41.9 and 26.7%, respectively). Phytotoxicity increased in the biostimulation and biostimulation/bioaugmentation treatments during the degradation process, whereas in the Microtox test, the toxicity was the same in these treatments as that in the natural attenuation treatment. In both the phytotoxicity and Microtox tests, bioaugmentation treatment showed lower toxicity. However, compared with natural attenuation, this approach did not show satisfactory hydrocarbon degradation. Based on the microcosm experiments results, we conclude that a broader analysis of the success of bioremediation requires the performance of toxicity bioassays. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/19486-0 - Marine and Antarctic biotechnology: microbial enzymes and their applications
• Grantee: Lara Durães Sette
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 16/17488-4 - Bioremediation of contaminated soils with diesel oil: structural and functional analysis of the microbial community
• Grantee: Patrícia Giovanella
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 14/13205-2 - Detoxification and degradation of petroleum and diesel oil by microbial marine consortia
• Grantee: Lidia de Azevedo Duarte
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master