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Degradation of long-chain n-alkanes in soil microcosms by two actinobacteria
Claudio De Pasquale1, Eristanna Palazzolo, Luca Lo Piccolo
1Dipartimento dei Sistemi Agro-Ambientali (SAgA), Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy. claudio.depasquale@unipa.it
Abstract:
The ability of two recently isolated actinobacteria, that degrade medium and long chain n-alkanes in laboratory water medium, was investigated in soil microcosms using different standard soils that were artificially contaminated with n-alkanes of different length (C(12)- C(20)- C(24)- C(30)). The two strains, identified as Nocardia sp. SoB and Gordonia sp. SoCp, revealed a similar high HC degradation efficiency with an average of 75% alkane degraded after 28 days incubation. A selectivity of bacteria towards n-alkanes of different length was detected as well as a consistent effect of soil texture and other soil physical chemical characteristics on degradation. It was demonstrated the specific aptitude of these selected strains towards specific environmental conditions.
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