• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.109-111
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• 2010

Recent studies have described various microorganisms that can degrade PAH, however, there are currently limited methods available to screen for PAH-degrading microorganisms. To screen for PAH-degrading microorganisms, a sublimation method (Alley, Jeremy F. and Lewis R. Brown. 2000. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66, 439-442) was modified to produce a simple screening system. In our results, there were several bacterial species capable of pyrene degradation including genera, Coryenbacterium, Gordonia, Rhodococcus, and Streptomyces, which have been screened from 350 bacterial isolates of commercial gasoline and oil-spilled sediment by the sublimation method. The main advantage of this method is that it (i) safely deposits an even, thin and visible layer of PAH onto the agar surface without the use of solvents and (ii) the quantity of PAH sublimed onto the agar can be easily controlled. Overall, this sublimation method may be an effective and simple technique to screen for PAH-degrading microorganisms.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.22-25
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• 2002

The effect of in-situ chemical oxidation on the indigenous soil microorganisms (total microbes and PAH-degrading microbes) and contaminant removal were investigated. Field soil contaminated with diesel in gas station was collected and the soil was treated from 0 to 900 minutes by in-situ ozonation as chemical remediation. The treated soil samples were incubated with supplying oxygen during the 9 weeks to understand the characteristics of microbes regrowth, damaged by ozone. The sharp decrease of aromatic fraction and TPH was observed within 60 minutes of ozone application and aromatic fraction and TPH then slowly decreased. The phenanthren-degrading bacteria were the most sensitive to ozonation, because 1 hour of ozonation reduced the microbes from 10$^{6}$ CFU/g-soil to below detection limits.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.89-91
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• 2000

Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds are highly carcinogenic chemicals and common groundwater contaminants that are observed to persist in soils. The adherence and slow release of PAHs in soil is an obstacle to remediation and complicates the assessment of cleanup standards and risks. Biological degradation of PAHs in soil has been an area of active research because biological treatment may be less costly than conventional pumping technologies or excavation and thermal treatment. Biological degradation also offers the advantage to transform PAHs into non-toxic products such as biomass and carbon dioxide. Ample evidence exists for aerobic biodegradation of PAHs and many bacteria capable of degrading PAHs have been isolated and characterized. However, the microbial degradation of PAHs in sediments is impaired due to the anaerobic conditions that result from the typically high oxygen demand of the organic material present in the soil, the low solubility of oxygen in water, and the slow mass transfer of oxygen from overlying water to the soil environment. For these reasons, anaerobic microbial degradation technologies could help alleviate sediment PAH contamination and offer significant advantages for cost-efficient in-situ treatment. But very little is known about the potential for anaerobic degradation of PAHs in field soils. The objectives of this research were to assess: (1) the potential for biodegradation of PAH in field aged soils under denitrification conditions, (2) to assess the potential for biodegradation of naphthalene in soil microcosms under denitrifying conditions, and (3) to assess for the existence of microorganisms in field sediments capable of degrading naphthalene via denitrification. Two kinds of soils were used in this research: Harbor Point sediment (HPS-2) and Milwaukee Harbor sediment (MHS). Results presented in this seminar indicate possible degradation of PAHs in soil under denitrifying conditions. During the two months of anaerobic degradation, total PAH removal was modest probably due to both the low availability of the PAHs and competition with other more easily degradable sources of carbon in the sediments. For both Harbor Point sediment (HPS-2) and Milwaukee Harbor sediment (MHS), PAH reduction was confined to 3- and 4-ring PAHs. Comparing PAH reductions during two months of aerobic and anaerobic biotreatment of MHS, it was found that extent of PAHreduction for anaerobic treatment was compatible with that for aerobic treatment. Interestingly, removal of PAHs from sediment particle classes (by size and density) followed similar trends for aerobic and anaerobic treatment of MHS. The majority of the PAHs removed during biotreatment came from the clay/silt fraction. In an earlier study it was shown that PAHs associated with the clay/silt fraction in MHS were more available than PAHs associated with coal-derived fraction. Therefore, although total PAH reductions were small, the removal of PAHs from the more easily available sediment fraction (clay/silt) may result in a significant environmental benefit owing to a reduction in total PAH bioavailability. By using naphthalene as a model PAH compound, biodegradation of naphthalene under denitrifying condition was assessed in microcosms containing MHS. Naphthalene spiked into MHS was degraded below detection limit within 20 days with the accompanying reduction of nitrate. With repeated addition of naphthalene and nitrate, naphthalene degradation under nitrate reducing conditions was stable over one month. Nitrite, one of the intermediates of denitrification was detected during the incubation. Also the denitrification activity of the enrichment culture from MHS slurries was verified by monitoring the production of nitrogen gas in solid fluorescence denitrification medium. Microorganisms capable of degrading naphthalene via denitrification were isolated from this enrichment culture.

• Proceedings of the Zoological Society Korea Conference
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• 1997.10b
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• pp.130.2-130
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• 1997

No Abstract, See Full Text

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.337-345
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• 2005

The degradation of phenanthrene, a model PAH compound, by microorganisms either in the mixed culture or individual strain, isolated from oil-contaminated soil in oil refmery vicinity sites, was examined. The effects of pH, temperature, initial concentration of phenanthrene, and the addition of carbon sources on biodegradation potential were also investigated. Results showed that soil samples collected from four oil refinery sites in Korea had different degrees of PAH contamination and different indigenous phenanthrene-degrading microorganisms. The optimal conditions for phenanthrene biodegradation were determined to be 30$^{circ}C$ and pH 7.0. A significantly positive relationship was observed between the microbial growth and the rate of phenanthrene degradation. However, the phenanthrene biodegradation capability of the mixed culture was not related to the degree of PAH contamination in soil. In low phenanthrene concentration, the growth and biodegradation rates of the mixed cultures did not increase over those of the individual strain, especially IC10. High concentration of phenanthrene inhibited the growth of microbial strains and biodegradation of phenanthrene, but was less inhibitory on the mixed culture. Finally, when non-ionic surfactants such as Brij 30 and Brij 35 were present at the level above critical micelle concentrations (CMCs), phenanthrene degradation was completely inhibited and delayed by the addition of Triton X100 and Triton N101.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.330-337
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• 2018

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including naphthalene, are widely distributed in nature. Naphthalene has been regarded as a model PAH compound for investigating the mechanisms of bacterial PAH biodegradation. Pseudomonas sp. AS1 isolated from an arseniccontaminated site is capable of growing on various aromatic compounds such as naphthalene, salicylate, and catechol, but not on gentisate. The genome of strain AS1 consists of a 6,126,864 bp circular chromosome and the 81,841 bp circular plasmid pAS1. Pseudomonas sp. AS1 has multiple dioxygenases and related enzymes involved in the degradation of aromatic compounds, which might contribute to the metabolic versatility of this isolate. The pAS1 plasmid exhibits extremely high similarity in size and sequences to the well-known naphthalene-degrading plasmid pDTG1 in Pseudomonas putida strain NCIB 9816-4. Two gene clusters involved in the naphthalene degradation pathway were identified on pAS1. The expression of several nah genes on the plasmid was upregulated by more than 2-fold when naphthalene was used as a sole carbon source. Strains have been isolated at different times and places with different characteristics, but similar genes involved in the degradation of aromatic compounds have been identified on their plasmids, which suggests that the transmissibility of the plasmids might play an important role in the adaptation of the microorganisms to mineralize the compounds.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.208-215
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• 2005

This study was accomplished in order to collect fundamental data on microbial roles in recycling process of reed rhizosphere. Sunchon bay, which is considered as one of the marsh and mud environments severely affected by human activities such agriculture and fisheries, was selected as a model place. In our initial efforts, two bacterial consortia were obtained by enrichment culture using PAH mixtures containing anthracene, naphthalene, phenanthrene and pyrene as the sources of carbon and energy, and four pure bacteria capable of rapid degradation of PAH were isolated from them. Four strains designated as SCB1, SCB2, SCB6, and SCB7 revealed by morphological, physiological and molecular analyses were identified as Burkholderia anthina, Alcaligenes sp., Achromobacter xylosoxidans., and Pseudomonas putida, respectively with over $99{\%}$ confidence. Notably, Burkholderia anthina SCB1 and Alcaligenes sp. SCB2 were found to utilize anthracene and pyrene more quickly than naphthalene and phenanthrene, whereas Achromobacter xylosoxidans SCB6 and Pseudomonas putida SCB7 exhibited similar growth and degradation patterns except for pyrene. These facts suggest that the rhizosphere microorganisms capable of PAH degradation might be used to clean up the contamination sites with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.