The effect of ammonium chloride and urea application on soil bacterial communities closely related to the reductive transformation of pentachlorophenol.

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is widely distributed in the soil, and nitrogen fertilizer is extensively used in agricultural production. However, studies on the fate of organic contaminants as affected by nitrogen fertilizer application have been rare and superficial. The present study aimed to examine the effect of ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) and urea (CO(NH2)2) application on the reductive transformation of PCP in a paddy soil. The study showed that the addition of low concentrations of NH4Cl/CO(NH2)2 enhanced the transformation of PCP, while the addition of high concentrations of NH4Cl/CO(NH2)2 had the opposite effect. The variations in the abundance of soil microbes in response to NH4Cl/CO(NH2)2 addition showed that both NH4Cl and CO(NH2)2 had inhibitory effects on the growth of dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria (DIRB) of the genus Comamonas. In contrast, for the genus Shewanella, low concentrations of NH4Cl inhibited growth, and high concentrations of NH4Cl enhanced growth, whereas all concentrations of CO(NH2)2 showed enhancement effects. In addition, consistent patterns of variation were found between the abundances of dechlorinating bacteria in the genus Dehalobacter and PCP transformation rates under NH4Cl/CO(NH2)2 addition. In conclusion, nitrogen application produced variations in the structure of the soil microbial community, especially in the abundance of dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria and dechlorinating bacteria, which, in turn, affected PCP dechlorination.

Effect of nitrate addition on reductive transformation of pentachlorophenol in paddy soil in relation to iron(III) reduction.

Reductive dechlorination is a crucial pathway for anaerobic biodegradation of highly chlorinated organic contaminants. Under an anoxic environment, reductive dechlorination of organic contaminants can be affected by many redox processes such as nitrate reduction and iron reduction. In the present study, batch incubation experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of nitrate addition on reductive dechlorination of PCP in paddy soil with consideration of iron transformation. Study results demonstrate that low concentrations (0, 0.5 and 1 mM) of nitrate addition can enhance the reductive dechlorination of PCP and Fe(III) reduction, while high concentrations (5, 10, 20 and 30 mM) of nitrate addition caused the contrary. Significant positive correlations between PCP degradation rates and the formation rates of dissolved Fe(II) (pearson correlation coefficients r = 0.965) and HCl-extractable Fe(II) (r = 0.921) suggested that Fe(III) reduction may enhance PCP dechlorination. Furthermore, consistent variation trends of PCP degradation and the abundances of the genus Comamonas, capable of Fe(III) reduction coupled to reductive dechlorination, and of the genus Dehalobacter indicated the occurrence of microbial community variation induced by nitrate addition as a response to PCP dechlorination.

Enhanced biotransformation of DDTs by an iron- and humic-reducing bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila HS01 upon addition of goethite and anthraquinone-2,6-disulphonic disodium salt (AQDS).

A fermentative facultative anaerobe, strain HS01 isolated from subterranean sediment, was identified as Aeromonas hydrophila by 16S rRNA sequence analysis. The biotransformation of 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl) ethane (DDT), 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl) ethylene (DDD), and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane (DDE) by HS01 was investigated in the presence of goethite and anthraquinone-2,6-disulphonic disodium salt (AQDS). The results demonstrated that HS01 was capable of reducing DDTs, goethite and AQDS. And goethite can significantly enhance the reduction of DDT, DDD and DDE to some extent, while the addition of AQDS can further accelerate the reduction of Fe(III) and DDTs. The products of DDT transformation were identified as a large amount of dominant DDD, and small amounts of 1-chloro-2,2-bis-(p-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDMU), unsym-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (DDNU), and 4,4'-dichlorobenzophenone (DBP). The results of cyclic voltammetry suggested that AQDS could increase the amounts of reactive biogenic Fe(II), resulting in the enhanced transformation of DDTs. This investigation gives some new insight in the fate of DDTs related to iron- and humic-reducing bacteria.

Effects of the FeII/CuII interaction on copper aging enhancement and pentachlorophenol reductive transformation in paddy soil.

The present study investigated copper aging and pentachlorophenol (PCP) reductive transformation under the effects of the Fe(II)/Cu(II) interaction in paddy soil in south China. Kinetic measurements demonstrated that the PCP reductive transformation rate (k) could be promoted in the presence of no more than 0.375 mM Cu(II) and inhibited in the presence of no less than 0.5 mM Cu(II). The highest k value in the presence of 0.25 mM Cu(II) corresponds to the lowest redox potential (E(p)) value of active Fe species. The increasing trend in E(p) of the active Fe species is consistent with the declining trend in the k value of PCP reduction and vice versa. Dissolved Cu(II) is gradually transformed into immobilized Cu species during PCP reduction, which indicates that Cu aging is enhanced by the Fe(II)/Cu(II) interaction. These findings improve our general understanding of the Fe(II)/Cu(II) interaction on soil iron redox chemistry for polychlorinated pesticide detoxification and heavy metal immobilization.