Metagenomic analysis of BTEX-contaminated forest soil microcosm

A microcosmal experiment using a metagenomic technique was designed to assess the effect of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) on an indigenous bacterial community in a Daejeon forest soil. A compositional shift of bacterial groups in an artificial BTEX-contaminated soil was examined by the 16S rDNA PCR-DGGE method. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNAs in the dominant DGGE bands showed that the number of Actinobacteria and Bacillus populations increased. To confirm these observations, we performed PCR to amplify the 23S rDNA and 16S rDNA against the sample metagenome using Actinobacteria-targeting and Bacilli-specific primer sets, respectively. The result further confirmed that a bacterial community containing Actinobacteria and Bacillus was affected by BTEX.