Remediation of saline soils contaminated with crude oil using the halophyte Salicornia persica in conjunction with hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria.

The negative impact of salinity on plant growth and the survival of rhizosphere biota complicates the application of bioremediation to crude oil-contaminated saline soils. Here, a comparison was made between the remedial effect of treating the soil with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a salinity tolerant hydrocarbon-degrading consortium in conjunction with either the halophyte Salicornia persica or the non-halophyte Festuca arundinacea. The effect of the various treatments on salinized soils was measured by assessing the extent of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) degradation, the soil's dehydrogenase activity, the abundance of the bacteria and the level of phytotoxicity as measured by a bioassay.

A novel purple acid phytase from an earthworm cast bacterium.

Background: Phytases are a diverse group of enzymes initiating the dephosphorylation of phytate. Phytate is considered as an anti-nutritional compound because of its capability to chelate nutrients such as Fe , Zn , Mg , and Ca . In this study, several bacterial isolates obtained from earthworm casts were evaluated for their phytate degrading capability.

Effective bioremediation of a petroleum-polluted saline soil by a surfactant-producing consortium.

Bacteria able to produce biosurfactants can use petroleum-based hydrocarbons as a carbon source. Herein, four biosurfactant-producing strains, isolated from oil-contaminated saline soil, were combined to form a bacterial consortium. The inoculation of the consortium to contaminated soil alleviated the adverse effects of salinity on biodegradation and increased the rate of degradation of petroleum hydrocarbon approximately 30% compared to the rate achieved in non-treated soil.

Identification and determination of extracellular phytate-degrading activity in actinomycetes.

In this study 97 soil samples from different soil ecosystems were collected. The initial screening was performed on modified glycerol arginine agar (MGAA) to isolate common actinomycetes and on modified MGA-SE (MMGA-SE) to isolate rare actinomycetes. Sixty-seven isolates potentially producing extracellular phytate-degrading activity were identified.