Biotechnologies for the microbe-mediated remediation of expended railway mrossties: an integrative approach

Abstract

Creosote is a widely used biocide for wood preservation obtained from distillation of hard coal tar. It contains several hundreds of different chemicals such as aromatic hydrocarbons, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and alkylated PAHs. The usage of microbe-mediated technologies [1,2] for the remediation of waste materials containing creosote attracts growing interest as eco-friendly and economically valuable alternative to the conventional methods. The aim of this research focuses on the development and scale-up of technologies for the biological decontamination of expended railway wooden crossties. It encompasses the study of the stress effects on the ligninolytic enzymes secretion of Basidiomycetes, in particular due to heat shock and cold shock, the influence of the inoculum format, soil and soil pre-treatment method on the bioremediation efficiency, the antagonistic and synergistic effects of the interactions in the microbial community and the investigation on the large scale effects on the overall process.