Dr Mezbaul Bahar

Crude oil contamination greatly influence soil bacterial community. Proliferative microbes in the crude oil-contaminated soil are closely related to the living conditions. Oil wells in the Yellow River Delta Natural Reserve (YRDNR) region is an ideal site for investigating the bacterial community of crude oil-contaminated saline soil. In the present study, 18 soil samples were collected from the depths of 0¿20 cm and 20¿40 cm around the oil wells in the YRDNR. The bacterial community profile was analyzed through high-throughput sequencing to trace the oil-degrading aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. The results indicated that C15¿C28 and C29¿C38 were the main fractions of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) in the sampled soil. These TPH fractions had a significant negative effect on bacterial biodiversity (Shannon, Simpson, and Chao1 indices), which led to the proliferation of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria. A comprehensive analysis between the environmental factors and soil microbial community structure showed that Streptococcus, Bacillus, Sphingomonas, and Arthrobacter were the aerobic hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria; unidentified Rhodobacteraceae and Porticoccus were considered to be the possible facultative anaerobic bacteria with hydrocarbon biodegradation ability; Acidithiobacillus, SAR324 clade, and Nitrosarchaeum were predicted to be the anaerobic hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria in the sub-surface soil. Furthermore, large amount of carbon sources derived from TPH was found to cause depletion of bioavailable nitrogen in the soil. The bacteria associated with nitrogen transformation, such as Solirubrobacter, Candidatus Udaeobacter, Lysinibacillus, Bradyrhizobium, Sphingomonas, Mycobacterium, and Acidithiobacillus, were highly abundant; these bacteria may possess the ability to increase nitrogen availability in the crude oil-contaminated soil. The bacterial community functions were significantly different between the surface and the sub-surface soil, and the dissolved oxygen concentration in soil was considered to be potential influencing factor. Our results could provide useful information for the bioremediation of crude oil-contaminated saline soil.

Excessive amounts of animal manures and production of a large volume of biosolids pose serious environmental issues in terms of their safe disposal and management. Thermochemical treatment of bio-waste materials via pyrolysis can convert them into value-added products such as biochar-based fertilizers. In this study, fourteen biochars were produced from one biosolid and thirteen animal manures by slow pyrolysis at 300 °C. All feedstock and biochar samples were characterized by determining the yield, and physicochemical and surface properties, including the C-containing functional groups. Principal component and cluster analyses were used to classify the feedstock/biochar materials based on their mineral constituents. The biochar yield of various feedstocks ranged from 39 to 81%, with the highest yield for grain-fed cow manure. The highest N and K content was found in chicken manure biochar (57.8 and 29.2 g kg¿1, respectively), while the highest P was found in biosolid biochar (40.5 g kg¿1). The specific surface area of biochars ranged from 96.06¿110.83 m2 g-1. Hierarchical analyses of the chemical compositions of feedstocks and biochars enabled grouping of the materials respectively into four and five distinguished clusters. Three principal components (PC) explained 86.8% and 83.3% of the variances in the feedstocks and biochars, respectively. The PC1 represented the content of the major nutrients (N, P and K), whereas PC2 and PC3 represented other nutrients (secondary and micronutrients) contents and physicochemical properties (pH and EC). The results of this study suggested that biochars produced from different manures and biosolids may potentially be a source of soil nutrients and trace elements. In addition, different biochars may be applied to different nutrient-deficient soils to avoid plausible nutrient and potentially toxic element contamination.

Nitrogen amendment is known to effectively enhance the bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil, but the nitrogen metabolism in this process is not well understood. To unravel the nitrogen metabolic pathway(s) of diesel contaminated soil, six types of nitrogen sources were added to the diesel contaminated soil. Changes in microbial community and soil enzyme genes were investigated by metagenomics analysis and chemical analysis through a 30-day incubation study. The results showed that ammonium based nitrogen sources significantly accelerated the degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) (79¿81%) compared to the control treatment (38%) and other non-ammonium based nitrogen amendments (43¿57%). Different types of nitrogen sources could dramatically change the microbial community structure and soil enzyme gene abundance. Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were identified as the two dominant phyla in the remediation of diesel contaminated soil. Metagenomics analysis revealed that the preferred metabolic pathway of nitrogen was from ammonium to glutamate via glutamine, and the enzymes governing this transformation were glutamine synthetase and glutamate synthetase; while in nitrate based amendment, the conversion from nitrite to ammonium was restrained by the low abundance of nitrite reductase enzyme and therefore retarded the TPH degradation rate. It is concluded that during the process of nitrogen enhanced bioremediation, the most efficient nitrogen cycling direction was from ammonium to glutamine, then to glutamate, and finally joined with carbon metabolism after transforming to 2-oxoglutarate.

An arsenic hyper-tolerant diazotrophic bacterium was isolated from a heavy metal contaminated soil. The pure isolate MM-17 was identified as Azospirillum sp. based on phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA. The strain oxidized 100 µM As(III) to As(V) in both culture media (minimal salts) and real groundwater within 8 and 10 h, respectively. The oxidation of As(III) by this strain was observed within the pH range 5-10 with the best performance at pH 7-8. As(III) oxidation was found to be independent of cell growth which implies the oxidation enzymes are constitutively expressed. The whole cell kinetic study highlighted a lower value of kinetic constant, Ks as 32.9 µM As(III), which indicates that the strain MM-17 has greater affinity for As(III). The gene sequence of the large subunit of arsenite oxidase of MM-17 showed 99 and 72% similarity to the large subunit of arsenite oxidase of Stenotrophomonas sp. MM-7 and Sinorhizobium sp. M14, respectively. Sphaeroplasts experiments suggest that arsenite oxidase is a membrane associated protein in MM-17.

In this study, the toxicity, biotransformation and bioaccumulation of arsenite and arsenate in a soil microalga, Chlorella sp., were investigated using different phosphate levels. The results indicated that arsenate was highly toxic than arsenite to the alga, and the phosphate limitation in growth media greatly enhanced arsenate toxicity. The uptake of arsenate in algal cells was more than that of arsenite, and the predominant species in the growth media was arsenate after 8¿days of exposure to arsenite or arsenate, indicating arsenite oxidation by this microalga. Arsenate reduction was also observed when the alga was incubated in a phosphate-limiting growth medium. Similar to the process of biotransformation, the alga accumulated more arsenic when it was exposed to arsenate and preferably more in a phosphate-limiting condition. Although phosphate significantly influences the biotransformation and bioaccumulation of arsenic, the oxidizing ability and higher accumulation capacity of this alga have great potential for its application in arsenic bioremediation.

Arsenic contamination of groundwater and surface water is widespread throughout the world. Considering its carcinogenicity and toxicity to human and animal health, remediation of arsenic-contaminated water has become a high priority. There are several physicochemical-based conventional technologies available for removing arsenic from water. However, these technologies possess a number of limitations such as high cost and generation of toxic by-products, etc. Therefore, research on new sustainable and cost-effective arsenic removal technologies for water has recently become an area of intense research activity. Bioremediation technology offers great potential for possible future application in decontamination of pollutants from the natural environment. It is not only environmentally friendly but cost-effective as well. This review focuses on the state-of-art knowledge of currently available arsenic remediation methods, their prospects, and recent advances with particular emphasis on bioremediation strategies. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

The involvement of microorganism in global cycling of arsenic is well-known. Arsenite-oxidizing bacteria play an important role in reducing arsenic toxicity and mobility in arsenic contaminated environment. In this study, a gram negative bacterium, MM-7 able to efficiently oxidize arsenite [As (III)] to arsenate [As (V)] was isolated from soil. The 16S rRNA analysis revealed that the strain is a close relative to Stenotrophomonas panacihumi with 99% identity. The presence of the arsenite oxidase gene was detected in this bacterium. The amino acid sequences of the arsenite oxidase from MM-7 showed the highest identity with the arsenite oxidase from Bosea sp. (67%). To our knowledge, this is the first report of As (III) oxidation by Stenotrophomonas sp. This strain has great potential for remediation of arsenic contaminated water. © 2012 Taylor & Francis Group.

Arsenic contamination of groundwater and surface water is widespread throughout the world. Due to its carcinogenicity and toxicity to human and animal health, remediation of arsenic contaminated water has become a high priority. There are several physico-chemical based conventional technologies available for arsenic removal from water. However, these technologies have some limitations such as high cost, generation of toxic by-products etc. Therefore, research on sustainable and cost-effective arsenic removal technologies for water has gained enormous attention recently. This paper will focus on the state-of-art knowledge on the currently available arsenic remediation methods, their prospects and recent advances with particular emphasis on bioremediation approaches. © 2012 Taylor & Francis Group.