title: Bioremoval of priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by a microbial community with high sorption ability.
abstract: The treatment of large volumes of wastewater during oil refining is presently a challenge. Bioremediation has been considered an eco-friendly approach for the removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are one of the most hazardous groups of organic micropollutants. However, it is crucial to identify native PAH-removing microorganisms for the development of an effective bioremediation process. This study reports the high potential of an anaerobic microbial consortium enriched from a petrochemical refinery wastewater to remove two priority PAHs-acenaphthene and phenanthrene. Seventy-seven percent of acenaphthene was removed within 17 h, whereas phenanthrene was no longer detected after 15 h. Bioremoval rates were extremely high (0.086 and 0.156 h-1for acenaphthene and phenanthrene, respectively). The characterization of the microbial communities by next-generation sequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization showed that the PAH-removing consortium was mainly composed by bacteria affiliated to Diaphorobacter and Paracoccus genera, independently of the PAH tested. Moreover, besides biodegradation, biosorption was a relevant mechanism involved in the removal of both PAHs, which is an important finding since biosorption is less expensive than biodegradation and can be carried out with dead biomass. Although biodegradation is the most commonly reported biological mechanism for PAH removal, this study demonstrated that biosorption by this microbial community may be extremely efficient for their removal. Given the outstanding ability of this microbial consortium to quickly remove the compounds addressed, it could be further applied for the bioremediation of PAHs in refinery wastewaters and other contaminated environments.
authors.affiliation: iBET, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Apartado 12, 2780-901, Oeiras, Portugal. sandras@itqb.unl.pt.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sanches
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.affiliation: iBET, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Apartado 12, 2780-901, Oeiras, Portugal.|Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: LAQV, REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal.
authors.forename: Claudia F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Galinha
authors.affiliation: Sines Refinery, Petrogal S. A, 7520-952, Sines, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Inês A C
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: iBET, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Apartado 12, 2780-901, Oeiras, Portugal.|Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria Teresa Barreto
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Crespo
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D018533:Biomass; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D059013:Microbial Consortia; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
keywords: Anaerobic bioremoval; Biosorption; Microbial community characterization; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Refinery wastewater