Soil contamination by hydrocarbons is a problem that causes severe damage to the environment and public health. Technologies such as bioremediation using native microbial species represent a promising and environmentally friendly alternative for decontamination. This study aimed to isolate indigenous fungi species from the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and evaluate their diesel degrading capacity in soils contaminated with crude oil. Seven filamentous fungi were isolated after enrichment cultivation from soils collected from contaminated sites and subjected to growth analysis on diesel nutrient media. Two fungal species were pre-selected and identified by morphological genus analysis and molecular techniques as Trichoderma asperellum and Penicillium pedernalense. The microdilution test showed that T. asperellum presented better fungal growth in high diesel concentrations than P. pedernalense. In addition, T. asperellum was able to degrade 41 and 54% of the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) content present in soil artificially contaminated with diesel (10 g/kg of soil) in 7 and 14 days of incubation, respectively. In higher diesel concentration (1000 g of diesel/kg of soil) the TPH degradation reached 26%, 45%, and 48%, in 9, 16, and 30 d, respectively. The results demonstrated that the selected species was suitable for diesel degradation. We can also conclude that the isolation and selection process proposed in this work was successful and represents a simple alternative for obtaining native species with hydrocarbon degradation capacity, for use in the bioremediation process in the recovery of contaminated areas in an ecologically acceptable way.

Lindgren funnel traps were used to monitor Pityophthorus juglandis occurrence. Traps were placed directly on walnut trees, with the top tied to one of the lower branches (about 2m high). An 8-funnel model was used instead of a 4-funnel trap, with the specific pheromone bait positioned between the fourth and the fifth funnel. Traps were customized with a 5mm metal mesh which was placed inside the bottom funnel so that debris (mainly foliage) and larger non-target insects would not end up inside the collecting jar. Geosmithia morbida was isolated from beetle adults, larvae and necrotic woody tissue around beetle galleries. Contaminant-free colonies were subcultured in purity and identified by: a) colony phenotyping [morphology, texture and pigmentation; margin type (regular/irregular; lobed/non-lobed); mycelium compactness; surface bumpiness; growth/temperature relationships]; b) micromorphology: type, morphology and ontogeny of conidiophores, metulae and phialides; conidiogenesis; shape, dimension and pigmentation of conidia; c) DNA fingerprinting.•Our protocol was customized to prevent traps from swinging in the wind and to optimize beetle catches by transversely fixing the bottom of funnel traps to the tree trunk with wooden shafts for stability.•To enhance fungus isolation in purity, a semi-selective Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) medium, enriched with the antibiotics Ampicillin (Policillin-N) and Rifampicin (Rifamycin), was devised to prevent contamination by Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and by mycobacteria.