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Bacterial Community Dynamics during Bioremediation of Diesel Oil-Contaminated Antarctic Soil

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Abstract

The effect of nutrient and inocula amendment in a bioremediation field trial using a nutrient-poor Antarctic soil chronically contaminated with hydrocarbons was tested. The analysis of the effects that the treatments caused in bacterial numbers and hydrocarbon removal was combined with the elucidation of the changes occurring on the bacterial community, by 16S rDNA-based terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) typing, and the detection of some of the genes involved in the catabolism of hydrocarbons. All treatments caused a significant increase in the number of bacteria able to grow on hydrocarbons and a significant decrease in the soil hydrocarbon content, as compared to the control. However, there were no significant differences between treatments. Comparison of the soil T-RFLP profiles indicated that there were changes in the structure and composition of bacterial communities during the bioremediation trial, although the communities in treated plots were highly similar irrespective of the treatment applied, and they had a similar temporal dynamics. These results showed that nutrient addition was the main factor contributing to the outcome of the bioremediation experiment. This was supported by the lack of evidence of the establishment of inoculated consortia in soils, since their characteristic electrophoretic peaks were only detectable in soil profiles at the beginning of the experiment. Genetic potential for naphthalene degradation, evidenced by detection of nahAc gene, was observed in all soil plots including the control. In treated plots, an increase in the detection of catechol degradation genes (nahH and catA) and in a key gene of denitrification (nosZ) was observed as well. These results indicate that treatments favored the degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons and probably stimulated denitrification, at least transiently. This mesocosm study shows that recovery of chronically contaminated Antarctic soils can be successfully accelerated using biostimulation with nutrients, and that this causes a change in the indigenous bacterial communities and in the genetic potential for hydrocarbon degradation.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the Argentinean Antarctic Institute (IAA no. 42), the National Agency for Scientific and Technical Researches (PICTO 11555), and the University of Buenos Aires (UBACyT U007) as well as by a short-term travel fellowship from the Argentinean Research Council (CONICET). Research at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) was supported by grants VEM2003-20565 and CTM2005-01783 from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (MEC). B.N. was supported by a contract from the program “Ramón y Cajal” from MEC, and J.C-O by a fellowship of the Balearics Autonomous Government. The experience and assistance of logistic and technical personnel at Tte. Jubany Antarctic Station is also highly appreciated, as well as the support of the Scientific-Technical Services of the UIB during the operation of the genetic analyzer for fragment analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    S. Vázquez & L. Ruberto

  2. Grup de Microbiologia, Department Biologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    B. Nogales, J. Christie-Oleza, R. Bosch & J. Lalucat

  3. Cátedra de Microbiología Industrial y Biotecnología, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    S. Vázquez, L. Ruberto, E. Hernández & A. Lo Balbo

  4. Instituto Antártico Argentino, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    W. Mac Cormack

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ESM Fig. 1

Weather conditions at Jubany Station, King George Island (Isla 25 de Mayo), South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, during the field experiment. Arrows indicate the sampling times (GIF 28 kb)

ESM Fig. 2

Relative moisture content (%) of soil during the field experiment. Black bars: community control plot (CC); white bars: biostimulated plots (AB); light gray bars: biostimulated and bioaugmented plots with M10 consortia (M10); and dark gray bars: biostimulated and bioaugmented plots with J13 consortia (J13). In the treated plots, the first bar corresponds to plot 1, the second one to plot 2, and the third one to plot 3 (GIF 20 kb)

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Vázquez, S., Nogales, B., Ruberto, L. et al. Bacterial Community Dynamics during Bioremediation of Diesel Oil-Contaminated Antarctic Soil. Microb Ecol 57, 598–610 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-008-9420-9

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