Abstract Detail

Symbioses: Plant, Animal, and Microbe Interactions

Boubakir, Zakia [1], Repas, Tim [2], Kaminskyj, Susan [3].

Bioremediation of oil-contaminated soil using the endophytic fungus, Trichoderma harzianum strain TSTh20-1.

Soil contamination by petroleum products, gasolines, oils and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; collectively GOPAHs) is a major environmental problem. Causes include accidental spills of gasoline and diesel oil at filling stations and refining sites (thousands in Canada alone), which effectively prevent future plant growth. Typically, remediation of GOPAH-contaminated soil begins with physical and/or chemical clean-up. However, these are expensive and only partly restore the soil to a natural state, since the microbiobiota are seldom actively re-established. In situ re-vegetation and GOPAH-bioremediation using a fungal endophyte that both promotes plant growth on PAH-contaminated soil and also grows directly on the GOPAHs themselves, is a promising new technology. Intriguingly, TSTh has been shown to mineralize 13C-phenanthrene to 13CO2 under strictly anaerobic conditions, making it ideal for growing in GOPAH-contaminated subsoil. Our recently-patented, systemic, class-2 fungal endophyte, Trichoderma harzianum strain TSTh20-1 (TSTh) has a suite of desirable characteristics for growth on agricultural as well as GOPAH-contaminated soil. TSTh stimulates seed germination rate and stimulates early root growth, leading to faster seedling establishment. TSTh also increases plant water use efficiency, drought tolerance and drought recovery, leading to higher crop yields. TSTh is already in agricultural field trials in the USA. We will present results on TSTh / tomato seedling growth on soil samples from an oil-spill site in the Canadian Prairies. Future studies will include a temporal analysis of PAH metabolites during degradation under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

1 - University of Saskatchewan , Department of Biology, 112 Science Place, Saskatoon, Sk, S7N5E2, Canada
2 - Roy Northern Land and Environmental, 207, 10139 100th Street, Fort St. John, BC, V1J 3Y6, Canada
3 - University of Saskatchewan, 112 Science Place, Saskatoon, Sk, S7N5E2, Canada

Keywords:
Bioremediation
Soil contamination
fungal endophyte.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 51
Location: Salon 5/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Tuesday, July 28th, 2015
Time: 3:00 PM
Number: 51007
Abstract ID:871
Candidate for Awards:None