Isolation of novel benzo[a]anthracene-degrading microorganims to apply to soil bioremediation

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are an important kind of xenobiotic, persistent pollutants in soil, slurry and air. The persistence of PAHs in the environment is mainly due to their low solubility in water and stable polycondensed aromatic structure. The aim of this work is the improvement of the available bank of microbial resources by the isolation of different microorganisms and the determination of their ability to degrade a model compound, studying the biodegradation of PAHs such as benzo[a]anthracene. After isolating and genetic identification of the potential degrading-strain, the fungi Trichoderma longibrachiatum and Byssochlamys spectabilis and the isolated consortium denominated B261b were selected to develop a PAH bioremediation process. The degradation ability of these strains was determined in liquid cultures with 100μM of benzo[a]anthracene in two successive batches. The results obtained clearly showed the superiority of isolated consortium B261b following to Trichoderma longibrachiatum and Byssochlamys spectabilis cultures.