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LIFE MySOIL project presentation delivered by Alessandro d'Annibale, from the University of la Tuscia (UNITUS), during the workshop “Mycoremediation, a sustainable strategy for the recovery of oil-contaminated sites”, organised online by LIFE MySOIL on May 11th, 2023., This project has received funding from the LIFE Programme of the European Commission under contract number LIFE20 ENV/ES/000416.

LIFE MySOIL project presentation delivered by Fiora Bagnato, from Eni Rewind, and Maurizio Petruccioli, from the University of La Tuscia (UNITUS) during the workshop SiCon 2023 Contaminated Sites – Experiences in Remediation Interventions, that was held from February 8th to 10th, 2023, in Rome (Italy)., This project has received funding from the LIFE Programme of the European Commission under contract number LIFE20 ENV/ES/000416.

LIFE MySOIL project presentation delivered by Maurizio Petruccioli, from the University of La Tuscia (UNITUS), during the Sustainability Day organised by UNITUS on October 5th, 2022., This project has received funding from the LIFE Programme of the European Commission under contract number LIFE20 ENV/ES/000416.

This study focused on the remediation of a chronically diesel-polluted soil by combining an electrokinetic treatment with a variety of bioremediation approaches. Priority within the sequential treatment was given to electrokinetic remediation (EKR) since the application of natural attenuation (NA), biostimulation and site-specific bio-augmentation resulted in very low degradation performance for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and polycyclic hydrocarbons (PAH). The application of 20-day EKR (1.0 V cm−1with polarity reversal) led to 47.2 % and 46.2 % removal of TPH and PAH, respectively, and exerted a negative impact on bacterial abundance, as determined indirectly by quantitative PCR of 16S rRNA genes and community function, as investigated by community-level physiological profiling. These adverse effects were transient and, after a 50-day NA treatment applied downstream from EKR, bacterial abundance was an order of magnitude higher than that found in the initial soil and TPH and PAH removals were significantly higher than those attained by EKR (64.1 % and 56.3 %, respectively). The combination of EKR with site-specific bioaugmentation led to the greatest TPH and PAH degradation (76.0 % and 78.6 %, respectively). The results indicate that bioremediation can be successfully applied downstream from EKR and that the adverse effects exerted by this physico-chemical approach on soil microbiota are reversible.

A facultative halo-tolerant Aspergillus strain was isolated from olive brine waste, the effluent from the debittering process of table olives. Phenotypic and molecular characteristics showed clearly that the isolate represents a novel species. Based on the source of isolation, the new species has been named Aspergillus olivimuriae. It was found tolerant to high concentrations of NaCl (15 %) or sucrose (60 %) and it exhibits substantial growth under these conditions. Although the new species grew profusely at 37 C, no growth was observed at 40 C, conidia en masse were avellaneous on all media. The description of the new species Aspergillus olivimuriae brings the total species of Aspergillus sect. Flavipedes to 15. The type strain of A. olivimuriae sp. nov. is NRRL 66783 (CCF 6208), its whole genome has been deposited as PRJNA498048.

Contamination of soil by petroleum products is a global concern. Microbial-based bioremediation strategies could be cost-effective alternatives to other remediation methods; however, they should be site-tailored to guarantee effectiveness and success. The present paper illustrates data on autochthonous microbial communities in a hydrocarbon pollute soil, considering not only bacteria, but also yeasts and filamentous fungi as strains with pollutant degradation capability. The interesting strains were identified as members of the genus Pseudomonas, Rhodotorula, Yarrowia, Penicillium and Aspergillus. Preliminary tests for consortium assemblage were carried out to evaluate the selected strains as possible inoculum in biotreatment via autochthonous bioaugmentation (ABA).