Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the most common contaminants in soil. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi make host plants resistant to pollutants. This study aims to evaluate the impact of anthracene, phenanthrene and dibenzothiophene on the AM fungus Rhizophagus custos, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals and PAHs, under monoxenic conditions. We found a high level...

This study focuses on the isolation and biodegradation of PAHs by microorganisms associated with the sediments of automobile workshops of Pondicherry. One of the bacterial isolate selectively enriched in these compounds was identified as Rhodococcus ruber based on morphology, 16S rDNA sequencing and phylogenetic characteristics. Biodegradability tests with selected PAHs supplied as sole carbon ...

Two bacterial strains, 127W and T102, were isolated from anoxic crude oil tank sludge as effective degraders of dibenzothiophene (DBT), a model sulfur containing heterocyclic aromatic compound in crude oil. Strain 127W was more tolerant to oxygen limitation than T102 and was capable of degrading two- and three-ring polycyclic and heterocyclic aromatic compounds under both aerobic and low oxygen...

Biodesulfurization (BDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT) was carried out by Rhodococcus erythropolis IGST8 decorated with magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles, synthesized in-house by a chemical method, with an average size of 45-50 nm, in order to facilitate the post-reaction separation of the bacteria from the reaction mixture. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the magnetic nanoparticles subst...

Sulfur can be removed from benzothiophene (BT) by some bacteria without breaking carbon-carbon bonds. However, a clear mechanism for BT desulfurization and its genetic components have not been reported in literatures so far. In this study, we used comparative transcriptomics to study differential expression of genes in Gordonia terrae C-6 cultured with BT or sodium sulfate as the sole source of...

Biodesulfurization offers an attractive alternative to conventional hydrodesulfurization due to the mild operating conditions and reaction specificity afforded by the biocatalyst. The enzymatic pathway existing in Rhodococcus has been demonstrated to oxidatively desulfurize the organic sulfur occurring in dibenzothiophene while leaving the hydrocarbon intact. In order for biodesulfurization to ...