Department of Biological Sciences, Kuwait University, Safat 13060, Kuwait.
J Environ Manage. 2012 Jan;93(1):113-20. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.08.014. Epub 2011 Sep 22.
The leaves of two legumes, peas and beans, harbored on their surfaces up to 9×10⁷ cells g⁻¹ of oil-utilizing bacteria. Less numbers, up to 5×10⁵ cells g⁻¹ inhabited leaves of two nonlegume crops, namely tomato and sunflower. Older leaves accommodated more of such bacteria than younger ones. Plants raised in oily environments were colonized by much more oil-utilizing bacteria than those raised in pristine (oil-free) environments. Similar numbers were counted on the same media in which nitrogen salt was deleted, indicating that most phyllospheric bacteria were probably diazotrophic. Most dominant were Microbacterium spp. followed by Rhodococcus spp., Citrobacter freundii, in addition to several other minor species. The pure bacterial isolates could utilize leaf tissue hydrocarbons, and consume considerable proportions of crude oil, phenanthrene (an aromatic hydrocarbon) and n-octadecane (an alkane) in batch cultures. Bacterial consortia on fresh (but not on previously autoclaved) leaves of peas and beans could also consume substantial proportions of the surrounding volatile oil hydrocarbons in closed microcosms. It was concluded that phytoremediation through phyllosphere technology could be useful in remediating atmospheric hydrocarbon pollutants.
两种豆科植物（豌豆和豆类）的叶片表面栖息着多达 9×10⁷ 个利用油脂的细菌细胞/g。在两种非豆科作物（番茄和向日葵）的叶片中，这种细菌的数量较少，为 5×10⁵ 个细胞/g。较老的叶片比幼叶容纳更多的这种细菌。在含油环境中生长的植物比在原始（无油）环境中生长的植物定植了更多的利用油脂的细菌。在同样的培养基中，删除氮盐后也能计数到类似数量的细菌，这表明大多数叶际细菌可能是固氮的。最主要的是微杆菌属（Microbacterium spp.），其次是 Rhodococcus spp.和柠檬酸杆菌（Citrobacter freundii），此外还有其他几种次要物种。纯细菌分离株可以利用叶片组织中的碳氢化合物，并在分批培养中消耗相当比例的原油、菲（一种芳烃）和正十八烷（一种烷烃）。在新鲜（但不是以前已灭菌的）豌豆和豆类叶片上的细菌群落也可以在封闭的微宇宙中消耗周围挥发性油类碳氢化合物的很大一部分。因此得出结论，通过叶际技术进行植物修复可能有助于修复大气碳氢化合物污染物。
