Establishing and Optimizing a Bacterial Consortia for Effective Biodegradation of Petroleum Contaminants: Advancing Classical Microbiology via Experimental and Mathematical Approach
Baichun Wu,
Jingmin Deng,
Hao Niu,
Jiahao Liang,
Muhammad Arslan,
Mohamed Gamal El-Din,
Qinghong Wang,
Shaohui Guo,
Chunmao Chen
Affiliations
Baichun Wu
State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Pollution Control, Beijing Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Pollution Control, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China
Jingmin Deng
State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Pollution Control, Beijing Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Pollution Control, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China
Hao Niu
Appraisal Center for Environment and Engineering, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing 100012, China
Jiahao Liang
State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Pollution Control, Beijing Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Pollution Control, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China
Muhammad Arslan
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada
Mohamed Gamal El-Din
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada
Qinghong Wang
State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Pollution Control, Beijing Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Pollution Control, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China
Shaohui Guo
State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Pollution Control, Beijing Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Pollution Control, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China
Chunmao Chen
State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Pollution Control, Beijing Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Pollution Control, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China
In classical microbiology, developing a high-efficiency bacterial consortium is a great challenge for faster biodegradation of petroleum contaminants. In this study, a systematic experimental and mathematical procedure was adopted to establish a bacterial consortium for the effective biodegradation of heavy oil constituents. A total of 27 bacterial consortia were established as per orthogonal experiments, using 8 petroleum-degrading bacterial strains. These bacteria were closer phylogenetic relatives of Brevundimonas sp. Tibet-IX23 (Y1), Bacillus firmus YHSA15, B. cereus MTCC 9817, B. aquimaris AT8 (Y2, Y6 and Y7), Pseudomonas alcaligenes NBRC (Y3), Microbacterium oxydans CV8.4 (Y4), Rhodococcus erythropolis SBUG 2052 (Y5), and Planococcus sp. Tibet-IX21 (Y8), and were used in different combinations. Partial correlation analysis and a general linear model hereafter were applied to investigate interspecific relationships among different strains and consortia. The Y1 bacterial species showed a remarkable synergy, whereas Y3, Y4, and Y6 displayed a strong antagonism in all consortia. Inoculation ratios of different strains significantly influenced biodegradation. An optimal consortium was constructed with Y1, Y2, Y5, Y7, and Y8, which revealed maximum degradation of 11.238 mg/mL OD600 for oil contaminants. This study provides a line of evidence that a functional consortium can be established by mathematical models for improved bioremediation of petroleum-contaminated environment.
