A comprehensive study on diesel oil bioremediation under microcosm conditions using a combined microbiological, enzymatic, mass spectrometry, and metabarcoding approach

Patricia Giovanella; Rodrigo Gouvêa Taketani; Ruben Gil-Solsona; Luiz Leonardo Saldanha; Samantha Beatríz Esparza Naranjo; Juan V Sancho; Tania Portolés; Fernando Dini Andreote; Sara Rodríguez-Mozaz; Damià Barceló; Lara Durães Sette

doi:10.1007/s11356-023-29474-w

A comprehensive study on diesel oil bioremediation under microcosm conditions using a combined microbiological, enzymatic, mass spectrometry, and metabarcoding approach

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Sep;30(45):101250-101266. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-29474-w. Epub 2023 Aug 30.

Authors

Patricia Giovanella^{1

2}, Rodrigo Gouvêa Taketani^{3

4}, Ruben Gil-Solsona^{5

6

7}, Luiz Leonardo Saldanha¹, Samantha Beatríz Esparza Naranjo^{1

8}, Juan V Sancho⁹, Tania Portolés⁹, Fernando Dini Andreote³, Sara Rodríguez-Mozaz^{5

6}, Damià Barceló^{5

6

7}, Lara Durães Sette^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Biologia Geral e Aplicada, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil.
² Centro de Estudos Ambientais (CEA), Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil.
³ Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
⁴ Sustainable Soils and Crops, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, United Kingdom.
⁵ Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA-CERCA), Parc Científic i Tecnològic de la Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain.
⁶ University of Girona, Girona, Spain.
⁷ Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research - Severo Ochoa Excellence Center (IDAEA), Spanish Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain.
⁸ Instituto Latino-Americano de Ciências da Vida e da Natureza, Universidade Federal da Integração Latino Americana, Parque tecnológico Itaipu, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil.
⁹ Environmental and Public Health Analytical Chemistry, Research Institute for Pesticides and Water (IUPA), University Jaume I, Castellón de la Plana, Spain.
¹⁰ Departamento de Biologia Geral e Aplicada, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil. lara.sette@unesp.br.
¹¹ Centro de Estudos Ambientais (CEA), Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil. lara.sette@unesp.br.

PMID: 37648922
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-29474-w

Abstract

This study aims at the application of a marine fungal consortium (Aspergillus sclerotiorum CRM 348 and Cryptococcus laurentii CRM 707) for the bioremediation of diesel oil-contaminated soil under microcosm conditions. The impact of biostimulation (BS) and/or bioaugmentation (BA) treatments on diesel-oil biodegradation, soil quality, and the structure of the microbial community were studied. The use of the fungal consortium together with nutrients (BA/BS) resulted in a TPH (Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon) degradation 42% higher than that obtained by natural attenuation (NA) within 120 days. For the same period, a 72 to 92% removal of short-chain alkanes (C12 to C19) was obtained by BA/BS, while only 3 to 65% removal was achieved by NA. BA/BS also showed high degradation efficiency of long-chain alkanes (C20 to C24) at 120 days, reaching 90 and 92% of degradation of icosane and heneicosane, respectively. In contrast, an increase in the levels of cyclosiloxanes (characterized as bacterial bioemulsifiers and biosurfactants) was observed in the soil treated by the consortium. Conversely, the NA presented a maximum of 37% of degradation of these alkane fractions. The 5-ringed PAH benzo(a)pyrene, was removed significantly better with the BA/BS treatment than with the NA (48 vs. 38 % of biodegradation, respectively). Metabarcoding analysis revealed that BA/BS caused a decrease in the soil microbial diversity with a concomitant increase in the abundance of specific microbial groups, including hydrocarbon-degrading (bacteria and fungi) and also an enhancement in soil microbial activity. Our results highlight the great potential of this consortium for soil treatment after diesel spills, as well as the relevance of the massive sequencing, enzymatic, microbiological and GC-HRMS analyses for a better understanding of diesel bioremediation.

Keywords: Aspergillus sclerotiorum; Bioaugmentation; Biostimulation; Cryptococcus laurentii; Hydrocarbon biodegradation; Marine fungi.