Enhanced rhizodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in corn straw-amended soil related to changing of bacterial community and functional gene expression

Abstract Root exudates can stimulate microbial degradation in rhizosphere, but it remains unclear whether the rhizodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) occurs in corn straw-amended soil. Hence, in the present study, either citric acid, a common low molecular weight organic acid in the root exudates, or corn straw was added into aged PAHs-contaminated soil to investigate their effectiveness in the biodegradation of PAHs. The present study showed that either corn straw (Y) or combined application of corn straw and citric acid (YN100) significantly (P < 0.05) enhanced the degradation of total PAHs in soil after 28 days incubation, which increased by 8.43% and 18.62% compared with control (CK), respectively. High-throughput sequencing suggested that both Y and YN100 treatments led to a shift in bacterial community in soil and increased the abundance of PAHs degraders. Interestingly, the copies of PAHs ring-hydroxylating-dioxygenase (PAH-RHD) Gram-negative bacteria (GN) genes under YN100 treatment was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than those under Y treatment in the soil. Network analysis showed that the potential hosts of PAH-RHDα genes were Lysobacter, Rhizobium, Bacillus, Devosia, Ohtaekwangia, Ramlibacter, Massilia, Steroidobacter, Phenylobacterium and Microvirga. Bacillus, Lysobacter, Rhizobium and Ohtaekwangia and all ten genera obviously increased under Y and YN100 treatments. These results indicate that combined application of corn straw and citric acid increased the PAH-degrading bacteria and PAH-RHDα genes, thus improving the biodegradability of PAHs in the soil. As these results verified, a combined corn straw-rhizosphere approach should be a feasible remediation strategy for PAHs-contaminated soil.