Phytoremediation of an aged petroleum contaminated soil using endophyte infected and non-infected grasses

Mohsen Soleimani, Majid Afyuni, Mohammad A. Hajabbasi, Farshid Nourbakhsh, Mohammad R. Sabzalian, Jan H. Christensen

    143 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Phytoremediation is a promising technique for cleaning petroleum contaminated soils. In this study, the effects of two grass species (Festuca arundinacea Schreb. and Festuca pratensis Huds.), infected (E+) and non-infected (E-) by endophytic fungi (Neotyphodium coenophialum and Neotyphodium uncinatum, respectively) on the degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in an aged petroleum contaminated soil was investigated. Plants were grown in the soil for 7months and unplanted soil considered as control. At the end of the experiment, total and oil-degrading bacteria, dehydrogenase activity, water-soluble phenols, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contents were measured in the soil. The results demonstrated that E+ plants contained more root and shoot biomass than E- plants and created higher levels of water-soluble phenols and dehydrogenase activity in the soil, while there was no significant difference in bacterial counts of planted soils. Planting stimulated total and oil-degrading bacterial numbers, dehydrogenase activity and the soil content of water-soluble phenols. Regardless of endophyte infection, PAH and TPH removal in the rhizosphere of plants were 80-84 and 64-72% respectively, whereas the removals in controls were 56 and 31%, respectively. It was revealed that TPHs in retention time range of n-alkanes with C10-C25 chain lengths and TPH were more degraded in the rhizosphere of E+ plants compared to E- ones. Thus, grasses infected with endophytic fungi could be more efficient for removal of TPH from oil-contaminated soils.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalChemosphere
    Volume81
    Issue number9
    Pages (from-to)1084-1090
    Number of pages7
    ISSN0045-6535
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov 2010

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