Petroleum hydrocarbon contamination is a major global prevalent issue in the petroleum sector. This research focuses on evaluating biodegradation of three Gram-negative bacilli, isolated from cowpea planted soil, contaminated with kerosene. The Gram negative bacilli strains have been characterized and identified, using MicrobactTM ID24E systems for the identification of Enterobacteriaceae and common Miscellaneous Gram-Negative Bacilli (MGNB). The identified organisms include Aeromonas hydrophila, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Actinobacillus sp. with the biodegradation indices, monitored for the evaluation of their degrading abilities, being Optical density at 600 nm (OD600nm), pH, and emulsification stability. The chemical profile of single cultures and mixed cultures (consortia) on the jet fuel hydrocarbon has been determined by means of Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), the results of which indicate that all the isolates have undergone above 70% reduction of the hydrocarbon substrates in terms of residual compounds. There has been 48 hydrocarbon compounds in the undegraded jet fuel which, following degradation process, decrease to 5, 13, 7, 10, 6, 9, and 10 compounds for Aeromonas hydrophila, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Actinobacillus sp., Aeromonas hydrophila and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Aeromonas hydrophila and Actinobacillus sp., Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Actinobacillus sp., Aeromonas hydrophila, Vibrio parahaemolyticus,and Actinobacillus sp., respectively. The degradation efficiency of the isolates have been relatively high and comparable to the control. Results from this study indicate that all the strains, especially the consortia, are potential candidates for remediating the problem of hydrocarbon contamination in the environment.

The bio-reduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) by anaerobic fermentation is considered as a promising, low-cost and environment-friendly way. However, it is unclear for the reduction mechanisms of Cr(VI) in an anaerobic hydrogen fermenter, such as reduction kinetics, related electron donors, migration and transformation, reduction site and key components, and related microorganisms. To clarify these issues, a hydrogen fermenter was designed to reduce Cr(VI) at 55 °C with glucose as initial substrate. Results show that 100 mg/L Cr(VI) can be completely reduced (99.5%) to trivalent chromium (Cr(III) through chemical and biological reactions. Bio-reduction dominates Cr(VI) removal in a first-order exponential decay mode with both glucose and its metabolites (volatile fatty acids) as electron donors. Moreover, volatile fatty acids are more suitable as electron donors for Cr(VI) bio-reduction than glucose. Bacilli, Clostridia and Thermotogae in the fermenter dominated the reduction of Cr(VI) by regulating the production and composition of extracellular polymers (EPSs), in which carboxyl and hydroxyl groups play an important role for Cr(VI) reduction by coordination. The results can guide us to regulate the bio-reduction of Cr(VI), and provide reference for the development of bio-reduction technology of Cr(VI).

In the present study a metabolically versatile co-culture with two Bacilli and one yeast strain was developed using enrichment culture techniques. The developed co-culture had affinity to degrade both aliphatic and aromatic fractions of petroleum crude oil. Degradation kinetics was established for designing the fermentation protocol of the co-culture. The developed mass culture strategy led to achieve the reduction in surface tension (26dynescm−1 from 69 dynescm−1) and degradation of 67% in bench scale experiments. The total crude oil degradation of 96% was achieved in 4000l of natural seawater after 28days without adding any nutrients. The survival of the augmented co-culture was maintained (109cellsml−1) in contaminated marine environment. The mass culture protocol devised for the bioaugmentation was a key breakthrough that was subsequently used for pilot scale studies with 100l and 4000l of natural seawater for potential application in marine oil spills.

Benzo(a)pyrene degradation was compared in soil that was either composted, incubated at a constant temperature of 22 °C, or incubated under a temperature regime typical of a composting process. After 84 days, significantly more (61%) benzo(a)pyrene was removed from composted soil compared to soils incubated at a constant temperature (29%) or at composting temperatures (46%). Molecular fingerprinting approaches indicated that in composted soils, bacterial community changes were driven by both temperature and organic amendment, while fungal community changes were primarily driven by temperature. Next-generation sequencing data revealed that the bacterial community in composted soil was dominated by Actinobacteria (order Actinomycetales), Firmicutes (class Bacilli), and Proteobacteria (classes Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria), regardless of whether benzo(a)pyrene was present or not. The relative abundance of unclassified Actinomycetales (Actinobacteria) was significantly higher in composted soil when degradation was occurring, indicating a potential role for these organisms in benzo(a)pyrene metabolism. This study provides baseline data for employing straw-based composting strategies for the removal of high molecular weight PAHs from soil and contributes to the knowledge of how microbial communities respond to incubation conditions and pollutant degradation.

Sediment bacterial communities are sensitive to environmental fluctuations, particularly external input sources. Studying the relationships between bacterial community distribution and the estuarine environment is critical for understanding the river-lake confluence ecosystem and the effect of inflow-rivers on lakes. In the present study, bacterial communities from the sediments of 14 estuaries and four pelagic sites of the Taihu Lake were investigated via high-throughput sequencing. The results demonstrated that Delta-, Beta-, and Gamma-proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Nitrospira, Bacilli, Anaerolineae, and Actinobacteria were the major classes in sediment bacterial communities of the Taihu Lake. In general, the inflow-rivers of different pollution types have distinctly different influences on sediment bacterial communities of the lake. The bacterial community composition and physicochemical properties of pelagic sites were closer to those of the estuaries of western region which was polluted by serious industrial and agricultural pollution. The bacterial community diversity of estuaries was lower than those of pelagic sites. Spearman correlation analysis indicated that α-diversity of the bacterial community was significantly correlated with C/N, total nitrogen, and total carbon in estuarine sediments. Redundancy analysis revealed that the variance in bacterial community composition was also significantly associated with C/N (24.9%) followed by total phosphorus (15.8%), nitrite (7.2%), and nitrate (7.7%) among different estuaries. This study provides a reference to understand the influence of inflow-rivers on the lake ecosystem, which offered a basic guidance for maintaining the ecological system and protecting the water environment of lacustrine basin.