title: A quantitative PCR approach for quantification of functional genes involved in the degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in contaminated soils.
abstract: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are major pollutants globally and due to their carcinogenic and mutagenic properties their clean-up is paramount. Bioremediation or using PAH degrading microorganisms (mainly bacteria) to degrade the pollutants represents cheap, effective methods. These PAH degraders harbor functional genes which help microorganisms use PAHs as source of food and energy. Most probable number (MPN) and plate counting methods are widely used for counting PAHs degraders; however, as culture based methods only count a small fraction (<1%) of microorganisms capable of carrying out PAH degradation, the use of culture-independent methodologies is desirable.•This protocol presents a robust, rapid and sensitive qPCR method for the quantification of the functional genes involved in the degradation of PAHs in soil samples.•This protocol enables us to screen a vast number of PAH contaminated soil samples in few hours.•This protocol provides valuable information about the natural attenuation potential of contaminated soil and can be used to monitor the bioremediation process.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Remediation, School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.
authors.forename: Esmaeil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shahsavari
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Remediation, School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia; Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), 72800 Puebla, Mexico.
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aburto-Medina
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Remediation, School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Moshtohor, Toukh 13736, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taha
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Remediation, School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Ball
keywords: Bioremediation; Functional genes; Hydrocarbons; PAHs; PCR; qPCR