ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Bioremediation Potential Assessment of Plant
Growth-Promoting Autochthonous Bacteria:
a Lignite Mine Case Study
Saud Hamidović1, Smilja Teodorović2, Blažo Lalević3, Jelena Jovičić-Petrović3,
Jelena Jović4, Dragan Kiković5, Vera Raičević3
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1Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences,
Zmaja od Bosne 8, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2Forensics Department, Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies,
Cara Dušana 196, 11080 Zemun-Belgrade, Serbia
3Department of Microbial Ecology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade,
Nemanjina 6, 11080 Zemun-Belgrade, Serbia
4Department of Plant Pests, Institute for Plant Protection and Environment,
Banatska 33, 11080 Zemun-Belgrade, Serbia
5Faculty of Natural Science and Mathematics, University of Pristina,
38220 Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia
Submission date: 2015-02-06
Final revision date: 2015-09-17
Acceptance date: 2015-09-19
Publication date: 2016-01-25
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2016;25(1):113-119
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ABSTRACT
Coal and lignite play a major energy supply role in many European countries, including Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Yet mining activities are a heavy source of ecosystem contamination, posing significant environmental
threats. The primary goal of this study was to isolate and identify autochthonous lignite mine
spoil bacteria and evaluate their potential in bioremediation of these polluted soils. Two Bacillus species,
Bacillus simplex and a Bacillus cereus group member, were identified using conventional, molecular, and
bioinformatics approaches. This represents, to our knowledge, the first microbial characterization of mine
overburden in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A co-inoculum of autochthonous bacterial populations was used to
treat unvegetated as well as oat- and lettuce-vegetated lignite overburden samples. Our results illustrate the
potential of recovered native species to enrich soil fertility and productivity through plant growth promotion.