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PCB removal, soil enzyme activities, and microbial community structures during the phytoremediation by alfalfa in field soils

  • SOILS, SEC 5 • SOIL AND LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY • RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Abstract

Purpose

An in situ phytoremediation trial was developed in order to investigate the function of alfalfa during a 2-year bioremediation of an agricultural soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The study was conducted with the aim to better understand the application potential of PCB phytoremediation at field scale.

Materials and methods

Two treatments were set up in this field study: (1) soil without planting as a control (CK), and (2) soil planted with alfalfa (P). Kinetics of soil PCB removal during the bioremediation treatment was determined using gas chromatography. Soil enzyme activities including dehydrogenase and fluorescein diacetate (FDA) esterase were detected by spectrophotometry. In addition, soil microbial community structures were investigated by using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE).

Results and discussion

After the first and second years of remediation, planting alfalfa significantly decreased the initial soil PCB concentrations by 31.4% and 78.4%, respectively. Moreover, the presence of alfalfa significantly increased soil dehydrogenase and FDA esterase activities during the remediation. Changes in soil bacterial community structure and diversity were observed by PCR–DGGE fingerprinting. Planting alfalfa significantly increased soil bacterial diversity. Some well-known PCB-degrading bacteria such as Chloroflexi sp. may have contributed to the rhizoremediation of PCBs.

Conclusions

Results of this field study suggest that alfalfa is a promising candidate for phytoremediation of PCB-contaminated agricultural soil.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (projects 40921061 and 40701080), the Intellectual Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (project KZCX2-YW-404), the National Agricultural Department Public Benefit Research Foundation (project 200803034), and the support of the K.C.Wong Education Foundation, Hong Kong.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, People’s Republic of China

    Chen Tu, Ying Teng, Yongming Luo, Xianghui Sun, Shaopo Deng, Zhengao Li & Wuxing Liu

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Chen Tu, Ying Teng, Yongming Luo & Wuxing Liu

  3. Environmental Futures Centre and School of Biomolecular and Physical Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, Brisbane, QLD, 4111, Australia

    Zhihong Xu

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  1. Chen Tu
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  2. Ying Teng
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  3. Yongming Luo
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  4. Xianghui Sun
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  5. Shaopo Deng
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  6. Zhengao Li
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  7. Wuxing Liu
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Correspondence to Yongming Luo.

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Responsible editor: Ji-Zheng He

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Tu, C., Teng, Y., Luo, Y. et al. PCB removal, soil enzyme activities, and microbial community structures during the phytoremediation by alfalfa in field soils. J Soils Sediments 11, 649–656 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-011-0344-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-011-0344-5

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