Remediation of unsterilized, oil-contaminated soil by planting Zinnia hybrida and inoculating with Acinetobacter junii strain M-2
摘要
Soil contamination by petroleum products is a critical environmental problem. Phytoremediation using herbaceous or woody plants in combination with microorganisms reduces soil pollutants. In this study, Zinnia (Zinnia hybrida cv. ‘Profusion White’) were grown on unsterilised oil-contaminated soil inoculated with different inoculum concentrations of Acinetobacter junii strain M-2 strains to determine the appropriate inoculum concentration of A. junii M-2 strains for the remediation of contaminated soil. Various concentrations of A. junii strain M-2, alone or in combination with Zinnia, were used. The total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations in inoculated soils (109 or 1011 colony forming units (CFU) /g soil) without Zinnia were significantly lower than those in non-inoculated soils; the remediation effect was greatest at 50 days after the start of the test (DAT), and reduced after that. Notably, when the oil-contaminated soil was planted with Zinnia and inoculated with various concentrations of A. junii strain M-2, the soil TPH concentrations decreased significantly over 180 days, even with a lower inoculum concentration (107 CFU/g soil), and continued to decrease significantly until 180 DAT for all inoculation treatments. Thus, the Z. hybrida ‘Profusion White’ and A. junii strain M-2 combination is an effective treatment for the long-term remediation of oil-contaminated soils.