Study of the degradation activity and the strategies to promote the bioavailability of phenanthrene by Sphingomonas paucimobilis strain 20006FA.

The present study describes the phenanthrene-degrading activity of Sphingomonas paucimobilis 20006FA and its ability to promote the bioavailability of phenanthrene. S. paucimobilis 20006FA was isolated from a phenanthrene-contaminated soil microcosm. The strain was able to grow in liquid mineral medium saturated with phenanthrene as the sole carbon source, showing high phenanthrene elimination (52.9% of the supplied phenanthrene within 20 days). The accumulation of 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid and salicylic acid as major phenanthrene metabolites and the capacity of the strain to grow with sodium salicylate as the sole source of carbon and energy indicated that the S. paucimobilis 20006FA possesses a complete phenanthrene degradation pathway. However, under the studied conditions, the strain was able to mineralize only the 10% of the consumed phenanthrene. Investigations on the cell ability to promote bioavailability of phenanthrene showed that the S. paucimobilis strain 20006FA exhibited low cell hydrophobicity (0.13), a pronounced chemotaxis toward phenanthrene, and it was able to reduce the surface tension of mineral liquid medium supplemented with phenanthrene as sole carbon source. Scanning electron micrographs revealed that: (1) in suspension cultures, cells formed flocks and showed small vesicles on the cell surface and (2) cells were also able to adhere to phenanthrene crystals and to produce biofilms. Clearly, the strain seems to exhibit two different mechanisms to enhance phenanthrene bioavailability: biosurfactant production and adhesion to the phenanthrene crystals.

Effect of petrochemical sludge concentrations on microbial communities during soil bioremediation.

Qualitative and quantitative changes of microbial communities in soil microcosms during bioremediation were determined throughout one year. The soil was contaminated with 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 10% (wt/wt) of petrochemical sludge containing polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. We analyzed the hydrocarbon concentration in the microcosms, the number of cultivable bacteria using CFU and most probable number assays, the community structure using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, and the metabolic activity of soil using dehydrogenase activity and substrate-induced respiration assays. After one year of treatment, the chemical analysis suggested that the hydrocarbon elimination process was over. The biological analysis, however, showed that the contaminated microcosms suffered under long-term disturbance. The number of heterotrophic bacteria that increased after sludge addition (up to 10(8)-10(9) cells ml(-1)) has not returned to the level of the control soil (2-6 x 10(7) cells ml(-1)). The community structure in the contaminated soils differed considerably from that in the control. The substrate-induced respiration of the contaminated soils was significantly lower (approximately 10-fold) and the dehydrogenase activity was significantly higher (20-40-fold) compared to the control. Changes in the community structure of soils depended on the amount of added sludge. The species, which were predominant in the sludge community, could not be detected in the contaminated soils.

In situ detection of bacteria in continuous-flow cultures of seawater sediment suspensions with fluorescently labelled rRNA-directed oligonucleotide probes.

rRNA-targeted and fluorescently labelled oligonucleotide probes were used to study the composition of natural bacterial populations in continuous-flow cultures of seawater sediment suspensions. The cultures were run as enrichment cultures with increasing dilution rates, and hexadecane as the sole carbon source. Total cell numbers were analysed by counting DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole)-stained cells. To differentiate the population composition, oligonucleotide probes for eubacteria, for Cytophaga/Flavobacteria, and for four subclasses of the Proteobacteria (alpha, beta, gamma and delta) were used. About 40-80% of the DAPI-stained cells could be detected with the EUB338 probe. Moreover, it was possible to detect a shift in the composition of the natural bacterial population with increasing dilution rate of the continuous culture, from large amounts of Cytophaga/Flavobacteria to large numbers of members of the gamma-Proteobacteria. The cell recovery rate for bacteria labelled with specific oligonucleotide probes was analysed with defined cell numbers of Rhodospirillum rubrum, Comamonas testosteroni and Desulfovibrio vulgaris subsp. vulgaris introduced into the seawater sediment suspension, and was determined to be 13.9-33.5%. The standard deviation determined for this method applied to sediment suspensions was +/- 8.3%. The results suggest that the application of the in situ hybridization technique allows a good insight into the structure of populations growing in sediment suspensions.