Effect of Activated Carbon
Amendment on Bacterial
Community Structure and Functions in a PAH Impacted Urban Soil

Ahn S.; Arai H.; Baldwin B. R.; Bamforth S. M.; Bloem J.; Brandli R. C.; Bushnaf K. M.; Cho Y. M.; Cho Y. M.; Cornelissen G.; Cébron A.; Davenport R.; David Werner; Dawson J. J. C.; Fagervold S. K.; Fry J. C.; Gerard Cornelissen; Ghosh U.; Gijs D. Breedveld; Griffiths R. I.; Hale S. E.; Hale S. E.; Hale S. E.; Hawthorne S. B.; Head I. M.; Heitkamp M.; Hilber I.; HuiJie L.; Johnsen A.; Jones M.; Kanaly R. A.; Karapanagioti H. K.; Kazuya W.; Kesseler M.; Kitagawa W.; Langlois V.; Laurie A. D.; Lillis L.; Muyzer G.; Paola Meynet; Parales R. E.; Payne R. B.; Pérez-Pantoja D.; Rhodes A. H.; Rogers S. W.; Russell J. Davenport; Sarah E. Hale; Shimodaira J.; Stingley R. L.; Van Hamme J. D.; Vasilyeva G. K.; Vinas M.; Whitman W.; Widada J.

Effect of Activated Carbon Amendment on Bacterial Community Structure and Functions in a PAH Impacted Urban Soil

Abstract

ABSTRACT: We collected urban soil samples impacted by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from a sorbent-based remediation field trial to address concerns about unwanted side-effects of 2 % powdered (PAC) or granular (GAC) activated carbon amendment on soil microbiology and pollutant biodegradation. After three years, total microbial cell counts and respiration rates were highest in the GAC amended soil. The predominant bacterial community structure derived from denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) shifted more strongly with time than in response to AC amendment. DGGE band sequencing revealed the presence of taxa with closest affiliations either to known PAH degraders, e.g. Rhodococcus jostii RHA-1, or taxa known to harbor PAH degraders, e.g. Rhodococcus erythropolis, in all soils. Quantification by real-time polymerase chain reaction yielded similar dioxygenases gene copy numbers in unamended, PAC-, or GACamended soil. PAH availability assessments in batch tests showed th