RESUMEN
In this study, the mercury-tolerant strain LTC105 was isolated from a contaminated soil sample collected from a molybdenum-lead mine in Luanchuan County, Henan Province, China. The strain was shown to be highly resistant to mercury, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 32 mg·L-1. After a 24-h incubation in LB medium with 10 mg·L-1 Hg2+, the removal, adsorption, and volatilization rates of Hg2+ were 97.37%, 7.3%, and 90.07%, respectively, indicating that the strain had significant influence on mercury removal. Based on the results of Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the investigation revealed that the primary function of LTC105 was to encourage the volatilization of mercury. The LTC105 strain also showed strong tolerance to heavy metals such as Mn2+, Zn2+, and Pb2+. According to the results of the soil incubation test, the total mercury removal rate of the LTC105 inoculation increased by 16.34% when the initial mercury concentration of the soil was 100 mg·L-1 and by 62.28% when the initial mercury concentration of the soil was 50 mg·kg-1. These findings indicate that LTC105 has certain bioremediation ability for Hg-contaminated soil and is a suitable candidate strain for microbial remediation of heavy metal-contaminated soil in mining areas.
RESUMEN
Soil humic substances can be used as redox mediators in accelerating the biotransformation of organic pollutants, and humus-respiring bacteria are widely distributed in soils. However, the impact of humic substances on the soil microbial community during the biotransformation of organic pollutants is expected to be crucial while remains to be unclear. In this study, the biostimulation of indigenous microbial communities and the consequent effects on anaerobic transformation of pentachlorophenol (PCP) by a model humic substance, anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AQDS), were systematically investigated in a paddy soil. The addition of AQDS was observed to increase the production of HCl-extractable Fe(II) and enhance the PCP transformation rates consequently. The pseudo-first-order rate constants of the PCP transformation showed a positive exponential relationship with the AQDS dosage. The terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) results indicated the substantial effect of added AQDS on soil microbial community. The enhanced abundance of Geobacter sp. was disclosed to be most critical for accelerated PCP transformation when with AQDS, in which Geobacter sp. functioned for promoting the generation of active Fe(II) and consequently enhancing the PCP transformation rates. The transformation rates of PCP were exponentially correlated with the abundance of Geobacter sp. positively. The findings are expected to improve the understanding of diversity and ubiquity of microorganisms in humic substances-rich soils for accelerating the transformations of soil chlorinated pollutants.