Improved sea rice yield and accelerated di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) degradation by straw carbonization returning in coastal saline soils

Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate, a persistent organic contaminant, is widely distributed in the environment and poses substantial threats to human health; however, there have been few investigations regarding the risks and remediation of DEHP in coastal saline soils. In this work, we studied the influences of straw carbonization returning on sea rice yield and DEHP degradation. Straw carbonization returning significantly increased soil nutrients and reduced salt stress to improve sea rice yield. DEHP degradation efficiency was enhanced to a maximum of 78.27% in straw carbonized return with 60% sea rice, mainly attributed to the high pH value, high soil organic matter and enriched potential DEHP degraders of Nocardioides, Mycobacterium and Bradyrhizobium. Some key genes related to metabolism (esterase and cytochrome P450) and DEHP-degradation (pht4, pht5, pcaG, dmpB, catA and fadA) were elevated and explained the accelerated DEHP degradation, shifting from the benzoic acid pathway to the protocatechuate pathway in straw carbonization returning. The results obtained in this study provide a deep and comprehensive understanding of sea rice yield improvement and DEHP degradation mechanisms in coastal paddy soil by a straw carbonization returning strategy.