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Fast degradation of macro alkanes through activating indigenous bacteria using biosurfactants produced by Burkholderia sp.

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Abstract

Soil bacteria that produce biosurfactants can use total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) as a carbon source. This study demonstrated that biosurfactants produced by Burkholderia sp. enhanced the recovery and synergism of soil microbial community, resulting in fast degradation of macro alkanes. Experiments were carried out by applying bio-stimulation after pre-oxidation to investigate the effects of nutrient addition on biosurfactant production, TPH degradation, and microbial community succession in the soil. The results presented that bio-stimulation could produce biosurfactants in high C/N (32.6) and C/H (13.3) conversion after pre-oxidation and increased the total removal rate of TPH (10.59–46.71%). The number of total bacteria had a rapid increase trend (2.94–8.50 Log CFU/g soil). The degradation rates of macro alkanes showed a 4.0-fold (48.07 mg/kg·d−1 versus 186.48 mg/kg·d−1) increase, and the bioremediation time of degrading macro alkanes saved 166 days. Further characterization revealed that the biosurfactants produced by Burkholderia sp. could activate indigenous bacteria to degrade macro alkanes rapidly. A shift in phylum from Actinomycetes to Proteobacteria was observed during bioremediation. The average relative abundance of the microbial community increased from 36.24 to 64.96%, and the predominant genus tended to convert from Allorhizobium (8.57%) to Burkholderia (15.95%) and Bacillus (15.70%). The co-occurrence network and Pearson correlation analysis suggested that the synergism of microbial community was the main reason for the fast degradation of macro alkanes in petroleum-contaminated soils. Overall, this study indicated the potential of the biosurfactants to activate and enhance the recovery of indigenous bacteria after pre-oxidation, which was an effective method to remediate petroleum-contaminated soils.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51778524) and the Provincial Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi (No. 2019ZDLSF06-03).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an, 710055, Shaanxi, China

    Jinlan Xu, Zezhuang Cao, Feiyang Chen, Yuanyuan Li, Jianan Dai & Xin Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resources, Environment and Ecology, MOE, Xi’an, China

    Jinlan Xu, Zezhuang Cao, Feiyang Chen, Yuanyuan Li, Jianan Dai & Xin Zhang

  3. Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China

    Jinlan Xu, Zezhuang Cao, Feiyang Chen, Yuanyuan Li, Jianan Dai & Xin Zhang

  4. Key Laboratory of Membrane Separation of Shaanxi Province, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an, 710055, People’s Republic of China

    Jinlan Xu, Zezhuang Cao, Feiyang Chen, Yuanyuan Li, Jianan Dai & Xin Zhang

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  1. Jinlan Xu
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  2. Zezhuang Cao
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Jinlan Xu: Methodology, data curation, validation, funding acquisition, supervision. Zezhuang Cao: Methodology, data curation, writing (original draft), validation. Feiyang Chen: Data curation, formal analysis, supervision, methodology. Yuanyuan Li: Data curation, investigation. Jianan Dai: Data curation. Xin Zhang: Data curation.

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Correspondence to Jinlan Xu.

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Highlights

• Burkholderia sp. produces biosurfactants by regulating C/H and C/N conversions.

• Biosurfactants enhance the recovery of indigenous bacteria after pre-oxidation.

• Synergism of microbial community results in fast degradation of macro alkanes.

• The time of degrading macro alkanes can save 166 days.

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Xu, J., Cao, Z., Chen, F. et al. Fast degradation of macro alkanes through activating indigenous bacteria using biosurfactants produced by Burkholderia sp.. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 64300–64312 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26909-2

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