Bacterial community dynamics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degradation during bioremediation of heavily creosote-contaminated soil.
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Bacterial community dynamics and biodegradation processes were examined in a highly creosote-contaminated soil undergoing a range of laboratory-based bioremediation treatments. The dynamics of the eubacterial community, the number of heterotrophs and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) degraders, and the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) and PAH concentrations were monitored during the bioremediation process. TPH and PAHs were significantly degraded in all treatments (72 to 79% and 83 to 87%, respectively), and the biodegradation values were higher when nutrients were not added, especially for benzo(a)anthracene and chrysene. The moisture content and aeration were determined to be the key factors associated with PAH bioremediation. Neither biosurfactant addition, bioaugmentation, nor ferric octate addition led to differences in PAH or TPH biodegradation compared to biodegradation with nutrient treatment. All treatments resulted in a high first-order degradation rate during the first 45 days, which was markedly reduced after 90 days. A sharp increase in the size of the heterotrophic and PAH-degrading microbial populations was observed, which coincided with the highest rates of TPH and PAH biodegradation. At the end of the incubation period, PAH degraders were more prevalent in samples to which nutrients had not been added. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis and principal-component analysis confirmed that there was a remarkable shift in the composition of the bacterial community due to both the biodegradation process and the addition of nutrients. At early stages of biodegradation, the alpha-Proteobacteria group (genera Sphingomonas and Azospirillum) was the dominant group in all treatments. At later stages, the gamma-Proteobacteria group (genus Xanthomonas), the alpha-Proteobacteria group (genus Sphingomonas), and the Cytophaga-Flexibacter-Bacteroides group (Bacteroidetes) were the dominant groups in the nonnutrient treatment, while the gamma-Proteobacteria group (genus Xathomonas), the beta-Proteobacteria group (genera Alcaligenes and Achromobacter), and the alpha-Proteobacteria group (genus Sphingomonas) were the dominant groups in the nutrient treatment. This study shows that specific bacterial phylotypes are associated both with different phases of PAH degradation and with nutrient addition in a preadapted PAH-contaminated soil. Our findings also suggest that there are complex interactions between bacterial species and medium conditions that influence the biodegradation capacity of the microbial communities involved in bioremediation processes. (+info)
New views on antidiarrheal effect of wood creosote: is wood creosote really a gastrointestinal antiseptic?
(10/33)
Wood creosote, the principal ingredient in Seirogan, has a long history as a known gastrointestinal microbicidal agent. When administered orally, the intraluminal concentration of wood creosote is not sufficiently high to achieve this microbicidal effect. Through further animal tests, we have shown that antimotility and antisecretory actions are the principal antidiarrheal effects of wood creosote. Wood creosote inhibits intestinal secretion induced by enterotoxins by blocking the Cl(-) channel on the intestinal epithelium. Wood creosote also decreases intestinal motility accelerated by mechanical, chemical, or electrical stimulus by the inhibition of the Ca(2+) influx into the smooth muscle cells. In this overview, the antimotility and antisecretory effects of wood creosote are compared with those of loperamide. Wood creosote was observed to inhibit stimulated colonic motility, but not normal jejunal motility. Loperamide inhibits normal jejunal motility, but not stimulated colonic motility. Both wood creosote and loperamide inhibit intestinal secretion accelerated by acetylcholine. Wood creosote was found to have greater antisecretory effects in the colon than loperamide. Based upon these findings, we conclude that the antidiarrheal effects of wood creosote are due to both antisecretory activity in the intestine and antimotility in the colon, but not due to the microbicidal activity as previously thought. Wood creosote was found to have no effects on normal intestinal activity. These conclusions are supported by the results of a recent clinical study comparing wood creosote and loperamide, which concluded that wood creosote was more efficacious in relieving abdominal pain and comparable to loperamide in relieving diarrhea. (+info)
Biodegradation of creosote and pentachlorophenol in contaminated groundwater: chemical and biological assessment.
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Shake flask studies examined the rate and extent of biodegradation of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and 42 components of coal-tar creosote present in contaminated groundwater recovered from the American Creosote Works Superfund site, Pensacola, Fla. The ability of indigenous soil microorganisms to remove these contaminants from aqueous solutions was determined by gas chromatographic analysis of organic extracts of biotreated groundwater. Changes in potential environmental and human health hazards associated with the biodegradation of this material were determined at intervals by Microtox assays and fish toxicity and teratogenicity tests. After 14 days of incubation at 30 degrees C, indigenous microorganisms effectively removed 100, 99, 94, 88, and 87% of measured phenolic and lower-molecular-weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and S-heterocyclic, N-heterocyclic, and O-heterocyclic constituents of creosote, respectively. However, only 53% of the higher-molecular-weight PAHs were degraded; PCP was not removed. Despite the removal of a majority of the organic contaminants through biotreatment, only a slight decrease in the toxicity and teratogenicity of biotreated groundwater was observed. Data suggest that toxicity and teratogenicity are associated with compounds difficult to treat biologically and that one may not necessarily rely on indigenous microorganisms to effectively remove these compounds in a reasonable time span; to this end, alternative or supplemental approaches may be necessary. Similar measures of the toxicity and teratogenicity of treated material may offer a simple, yet important, guide to bioremediation effectiveness. (+info)
Effects of benzo[a]pyrene on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA damage in Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) from a creosote-contaminated and reference site.
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Analysis of phenanthrene and benzo[a]pyrene tetraol enantiomers in human urine: relevance to the bay region diol epoxide hypothesis of benzo[a]pyrene carcinogenesis and to biomarker studies.
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Hepatic neoplasms in the mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus from a creosote-contaminated site.
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High prevalences of idiopathic hepatic lesions were found in mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, from a site in the southern branch of the Elizabeth River, VA, contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Grossly visible hepatic lesions occurred in a total of 93% of the individuals from this site and 33% of these fish had hepatocellular carcinomas. Hepatic lesions were not detected in fish from two less contaminated sites. Lesions included foci of cellular alteration, hepatocellular adenoma, early and advanced hepatocellular carcinomas, and cholangiocellular proliferative lesions. Advanced carcinomas exhibited several distinct cellular patterns and some livers contained multiple neoplasms occupying up to 80% of the hepatic parenchyma. Sediments from the contaminated site contained extremely high concentrations (2200 mg/kg dry sediment) of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are believed to originate from an adjacent wood treatment facility that has used creosote. Concentrations were 730- and 35-fold higher than those at the two other sites. These findings indicate a strong positive association between exposure to creosote-contaminated sediments and the high prevalence of hepatic neoplasms in a feral population of mummichog and support the putative role of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fish hepatocarcinogenesis. Additionally, they suggest that the mummichog may be a useful indicator of exposure to carcinogens in aquatic environments. (+info)
High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of azaarenes and their metabolites in groundwater affected by creosote wood preservatives.
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Polynuclear azaheterocyclic compounds (azaarenes) are nitrogen-containing analogs of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The nitrogen atom in the ring system causes these compounds to be slightly polar and considerably more water soluble than related PAHs. A method using a solid-surface sorption technique to extract and concentrate azaarenes and their principle metabolites present in groundwater that contains creosote waste is described. Analyte isolation and concentration is accomplished by solid-phase extraction on n-octadecyl cartridges followed by instrumental determination involving high-performance liquid chromatography. Separations and detection are achieved using flexible-walled, wide-bore columns with ultraviolet and fluorescence photometric detectors connected in series. Fluorescence detection alone is insufficient because the fluorescence response produced by two-ring azaarenes is limited. Short wavelength (229 nm) absorbance detection provides improved sensitivity for these compounds and peak rationing for more definitive identification. In this study, oxygen-containing metabolites of quinoline, isoquinoline, and acridine are detected in groundwater from hazardous waste sites in Pensacola, Florida and St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Concentrations ranging from mg/L to ng/L are measured. The dependence of measured octanol-water partition coefficients on pH is discussed in the context of the isolation chemistry. As a direct bacterial degradation product of acridine with a relatively long environmental persistence, 9-acridinone may serve as a biogenic marker signaling creosote contamination of groundwater. (+info)
Isolation and characterization of a fluoranthene-utilizing strain of Pseudomonas paucimobilis.
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A soil bacterium capable of utilizing fluoranthene as the sole source of carbon and energy for growth was purified from a seven-member bacterial community previously isolated from a creosote waste site for its ability to degrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. By standard bacteriological methods, this bacterium was characterized taxonomically as a strain of Pseudomonas paucimobilis and was designated strain EPA505. Utilization of fluoranthene by strain EPA 505 was demonstrated by increase in bacterial biomass, decrease in aqueous fluoranthene concentration, and transient formation of transformation products in liquid cultures where fluoranthene was supplied as the sole carbon source. Resting cells grown in complex medium showed activity toward anthraquinone, benzo[b]fluorene, biphenyl, chrysene, and pyrene as demonstrated by the disappearance of parent compounds or changes in their UV absorption spectra. Fluoranthene-grown resting cells were active against these compound as well as 2,3-dimethylnaphthalene, anthracene, fluoranthene, fluorene, naphthalene, and phenanthrene. These studies demonstrate that organic compounds not previously reported to serve as growth substrates can be utilized by axenic cultures of microorganisms. Such organisms may possess novel degradative systems that are active toward other compounds whose biological degradation has been limited because of inherent structural considerations or because of low aqueous solubility. (+info)