Soil microbial community after exposure to pyrene

Information on yet-uncultivated microorganisms responsible for the metabolization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils is of great significance for the bioremediation of PAHs-contaminated sites. Magnetic nanoparticle-Mediated Isolation (MMI), a novel cultivation-independent approach for the separation of living functional microbes from their natural habitats, was employed to investigate pyrene degraders in soils collected from an abandoned steel plant.