Soil microbial response during the phytoremediation of a PAH contaminated soil

The aim of this trial was to quantify and compare the responses of soil microbial communities during the phytoremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a laboratory trial. The experiment was conducted in 1-kg pots and planted treatments consisted of a mixed ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and white clover (Trifolium repens) sward together with a rhizobial inoculum (Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii). Throughout the 180-d experiment soil microbial biomass and communities of PAH degraders were monitored. PAH degradation was enhanced in planted treatments that received a rhizobial inoculum. Microbial biomass was enhanced in planted treatments, but there were no significant differences between treatments that had received a rhizobial inoculum and those that had not. However, numbers of PAH degraders were greater in the treatment that had received a rhizobial inoculum.