Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 12
Evaluation of
Senecio glaucus
L
.
and its
Root-Associated Fungi for Bioremediation
of Crude Oil Polluted Soils
Fariba Mohsenzadeh and Abdolkarim Chehregani Rad
Abstract
Environmental pollution with crude oil is a common disaster in many
countries. Bioremediation of petroleum contamination in soils is based on the
stimulation of petroleum hydrocarbon-degrading fungal and microbial communi-
ties. Earlier researches have shown that there are some petroleum-resistant plants
and their root associated fungal strains were grown in oil-polluted soils.
Senecio
glaucus
(Asteraceae) is one of the plants that was collected from the crude oil-
polluted sites of Abadan refinery in Iran. The root-associated fungi of this species
were determined and results showed the presence of six species associated with the
roots of the plants growing in the polluted areas, but only three of them were found
in non-polluted soils. The fungi were cultured in oil-contaminated media and results
showed that all the studied fungi were resistant to low oil pollution (1 % w/w) and a
few species, especially
Fusarium
species, showed higher resistance to oil pollution
(10 % w/w) and it seems that they may be suitable for bioremediation in highly pol-
luted areas. Bioremediation tests with
Senecioa glaucus
, with and without fungal
strains, showed that application of both plant and its root-associated fungal strains
was more effective than application of plant and fungi individually. Results indi-
cated that fungal strains had the main role in bioremediation of crude oil-polluted
soils but plant root exudates lead to an enhancement of the process.
Keywords
Bioremediation
·
Petroleum pollution
·
Root-associated fungi
·
Senecioa glaucus
Abbreviations
PDA
Potato dextrose agar
TOG
Total oil and grease
