title: Bioremediation potential of diesel-contaminated Libyan soil.
abstract: Bioremediation is a broadly applied environmentally friendly and economical treatment for the clean-up of sites contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons. However, the application of this technology to contaminated soil in Libya has not been fully exploited. In this study, the efficacy of different bioremediation processes (necrophytoremediation using pea straw, bioaugmentation and a combination of both treatments) together with natural attenuation were assessed in diesel contaminated Libyan soils. The addition of pea straw was found to be the best bioremediation treatment for cleaning up diesel contaminated Libyan soil after 12 weeks. The greatest TPH degradation, 96.1% (18,239.6mgkg(-1)) and 95% (17,991.14mgkg(-1)) were obtained when the soil was amended with pea straw alone and in combination with a hydrocarbonoclastic consortium respectively. In contrast, natural attenuation resulted in a significantly lower TPH reduction of 76% (14,444.5mgkg(-1)). The presence of pea straw also led to a significant increased recovery of hydrocarbon degraders; 5.7log CFU g(-1) dry soil, compared to 4.4log CFUg(-1) dry soil for the untreated (natural attenuation) soil. DGGE and Illumina 16S metagenomic analyses confirm shifts in bacterial communities compared with original soil after 12 weeks incubation. In addition, metagenomic analysis showed that original soil contained hydrocarbon degraders (e.g. Pseudoxanthomonas spp. and Alcanivorax spp.). However, they require a biostimulant (in this case pea straw) to become active. This study is the first to report successful oil bioremediation with pea straw in Libya. It demonstrates the effectiveness of pea straw in enhancing bioremediation of the diesel-contaminated Libyan soil.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Remediation, School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia; Department of Biology, Faculty of Science Algabal Algarbi University, Gharian, Libya.
authors.forename: Eman
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koshlaf
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.
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: Nagalakshmi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Haleyur
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Remediation, School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.
authors.forename: Tanvi H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Makadia
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Remediation, School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Remediation, School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia. Electronic address: andy.ball@rmit.edu.au.
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Ball
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D008002:Libya; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010578:Petroleum; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: 16S rDNA metagenomics; Bioremediation; DGGE; Diesel-contaminated soil; Necrophytoremediation; Pea straw