Bioaugmentation of thiabendazole-contaminated soils from a wastewater disposal site: Factors driving the efficacy of this strategy and the diversity of the indigenous soil bacterial community. (February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Papadopoulou, Evangelia S.; Genitsaris, Savvas; Omirou, Michalis; Perruchon, Chiara; Stamatopoulou, Anastasia; Ioannides, Ioannis; Karpouzas, Dimitrios G.
• Is Part Of: Environmental pollution. Volume 233(2018)
• Page Start: 16
• Page End: 25
• Publication Date: 2018-02
• Subjects: Thiabendazole -- Bioaugmentation -- Bacterial diversity -- Naturally contaminated soils -- Pesticides aging; Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Environmental Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Périodiques; Pollution -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; Pollution -- Effets physiologiques -- Périodiques; Pollution; Pollution -- Environmental aspects; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 363.73
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.10.021
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-7491

Abstract

Abstract: The application of the fungicide thiabendazole (TBZ) in fruit packaging plants (FPP) results in the production of effluents which are often disposed in adjacent field sites. These require remediation to prevent further environmental dispersal of TBZ. We assessed the bioaugmentation potential of a newly isolated TBZ-degrading bacterial consortium in a naturally contaminated soil (NCS) exhibiting a natural gradient of TBZ levels (12000, 400, 250 and 12 mg kg −1 ). The effect of aging on bioaugmentation efficacy was comparatively tested in a soil with similar physicochemical properties and soil microbiota, which was artificially, contaminated with the same TBZ levels (ACS). The impact of bioaugmentation and TBZ on the bacterial diversity in the NCS was explored via amplicon sequencing. Bioaugmentation effectively removed TBZ from both soils at levels up to 400 mg kg −1 but failed at the highest contamination level (12000 mg kg −1 ). Dissipation of TBZ in bioaugmented samples showed a concentration-dependent pattern, while aging of TBZ had a slight effect on bioaugmentation efficiency. Bioaugmentation had no impact on the soil bacterial diversity, in contrast to TBZ contamination. Soils from the hotspots of TBZ contamination (12000 mg kg −1 ) showed a drastically lower α-diversity driven by the dominance of β- and γ-proteobacteria at the expense of all other bacterial phyla, especially Actinobacteria. Overall, bioaugmentation with specialized microbial inocula could be an effective solution for the recovery of disposal sites contaminated with persistent chemicals like TBZ. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: A soil site was naturally contaminated with a gradient of thiabendazole levels. Bioaugmentation with a novel thiabendazole-degrading bacterial consortium was tested. Bioaugmentation efficiency showed a contamination level-dependent pattern. Thiabendazole aging did not affect the bioaugmentation capacity of the consortium. High thiabendazole soil levels had a strong impact on the α- and β-bacterial diversity. Abstract : Bioaugmentation with a specialized bacterial consortium was effective in the remediation of soils naturally contaminated with the persistent fungicide thiabendazole, and did not affect the soil bacterial diversity, the latter being heavily affected by high fungicide levels.