Enrichment of the soil microbial community in the bioremediation of a petroleum-contaminated soil amended with rice straw or sawdust

Abstract

Two common organic wastes from agriculture (rice straw) and forestry (sawdust) were applied to a petroleum-contaminated soil to estimate their effectiveness in the removal of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Rice straw was the more effective amendment than the other treatments in reducing TPH contents and addition of sawdust resulted in a significant decrease in PAH removal, particularly high-molecular-weight (5–6 ring) PAHs. Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) indicates that rice straw treatment separated only the bacterial community but sawdust greatly affected both the soil bacterial and fungal communities. Moreover, the abundance of some petroleum degraders such as the bacteria Sphingomonas, Idiomarina and Phenylobacterium and the fungi Humicola, Wallemia and Graphium was promoted by inputs of the two agricultural and forestry wastes. These results highlight the potential of waste applications in accelerating hydrocarbon biodegradation which may be attributed to the enrichment of keystone taxa that show strong positive associations with hydrocarbon degradation.