Effect of Siberian Light Crude Oil on Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Cultivars
Cigdem (Selcukcan) Erol
Department of Informatics, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
Ozlem Ertekin
Tübitak Marmara Research Center Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Institute (GEBI), 41470 Gebze, Turkey
Selma Unlu
Department of Physical Oceanography and Marine Biology, Institute of Marine Science and Management, Istanbul University, 34116 Istanbul, Turkey
Yasemin Yildizhan
Tübitak Marmara Research Center Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Institute (GEBI), 41470 Gebze, Turkey
Selma Onarici
Tübitak Marmara Research Center Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Institute (GEBI), 41470 Gebze, Turkey
Bayram Yuksel
Tübitak Marmara Research Center Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Institute (GEBI), 41470 Gebze, Turkey
Abdulrezzak Memon
International University of Sarajevo, Genetics and Bioengineering Program, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Srajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Corresponding Author(s) : Cigdem (Selcukcan) Erol
cigdems@istanbul.edu.tr
Asian Journal of Chemistry,
Vol. 23 No. 2 (2011): Vol 23 Issue 2
The environmental petroleum contamination problem is getting increasingly important as the need for fertile land increases. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a forage legume, which has uses in petroleum phytoremediation. In this study, three local cultivars of alfalfa from Eastern Anatolia were screened for their potential with respect to their for petroleum phytoremediation capacity and the effect of symbiotic nitrogen fixation of a symbiotic bacteria, Rhizobium meliloti, was evaluated. Local alfalfa cultivars; Savas, 1313 and 1312 were germinated and grown at soil mixed contaminated with different Siberian Light (SBL) crude oil concentrations for one month. Paralel studies were conducted with the application of R. meliloti. It could be said that the alfalfa cultivars are not very tolerant to the higher concentration of petroleum hydrocarbon contamination, but can only manage to grow on slightly contaminated areas.
