Combined remediation of Cd–phenanthrene co-contaminated soil by Pleurotus cornucopiae and Bacillus thuringiensis FQ1 and the antioxidant responses in Pleurotus cornucopiae

• P. cornucopiae cultivation is effective for remediation of Cd–phenanthrene contaminated soil.
• FQ1inoculation increases biomass of P. cornucopiae.
• FQ1 increases Cd accumulation in P. cornucopiae and phenanthrene removal in soil.
• FQ1 alleviates the joint oxidative stress of Cd and phenanthrene co-contamination.
• Bacteria–mushroom combined strategy is promising for Cd–Phe co-contaminated soil remediation.

Remediation of soil co-contaminated with heavy metals and PAHs by mushroom and bacteria is a novel technique. In this study, the combined remediation effect of mushroom (Pleurotus cornucopiae) and bacteria (FQ1, Bacillus thuringiensis) on Cd and phenanthrene co-contaminated soil was investigated. The effect of bacteria (B. thuringiensis) on mushroom growth, Cd accumulation, phenanthrene degradation by P. cornucopiae and antioxidative responses of P. cornucopiae were studied. P. cornucopiae could adapt easily and grow well in Cd–phenanthrene co-contaminated soil. It was found that inoculation of FQ1 enhanced mushroom growth (biomass) and Cd accumulation with the increment of 26.68–43.58% and 14.29–97.67% respectively. Up to 100% and 95.07% of phenanthrene were removed in the bacteria–mushroom (B+M) treatment respectively spiked with 200 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg phenanthrene. In addition, bacterial inoculation alleviated oxidative stress caused by co-contamination with relative decreases in lipid peroxidation and enzyme activity, including malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD). This study demonstrated that the integrated remediation strategy of bacteria and mushroom is an effective and promising method for Cd–phenanthrene co-contaminated soil bioremediation.

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