Bioaugmentation failed to enhance oil bioremediation in three soil samples from three different continents

Abstract

Soil samples from Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt and Germany were polluted with 3% crude oil. Series of samples were left unbioaugmented, others were bioaugmented with Kuwaiti desert soil with a long history of oil pollution and still others with Kuwaiti marine biofouling material. In the samples from Kuwait, Egypt, and Germany, bioaugmentation did not enhance oil removal, whereas it did in the sample from Lebanon. Taxa from the desert-soil bioaugmented batches, but none of those from the biofouling-material bioaugmented ones, succeeded in colonizing the four studied soils. The dynamics of the hydrocarbonoclastic communities during bioremediation were monitored. Those communities differed in composition, not only according to the type of soil, but also for the same soil; at various phases of bioremediation. Although each soil seemed to have its characteristic microflora, they all were similar in harboring lower and higher actinomycetes and pseudomonads in addition to many other taxa. None of the taxa prevailed through all phases of bioremediation. The most powerful isolate in oil-removal; was Rhodococcus erythropolis (Germany), and the weakest was Arthrobacter phenanthrenivorans (Lebanon). The pure hydrocarbonoclastic isolates tolerated unusually high oil concentrations, up to 30%.