“…The experiment was performed in six replicates for each concentration and time point in order to provide triplicates for separate quantification of biomass and PHE. The mini-cultures were incubated at 30°C, shaken at 135 rpm, and harvested as follows: for N. pentaromativorans, after 0, 4,8,12,24,36,48,96, and 144 h of incubation for initial 10, 25, and 50 mg L −1 PHE concentrations and after 0, 6,12,24,48,96,144,192, and 288 h for initial 100, 200, and 400 mg L −1 PHE concentrations; and for S. yanoikuyae and Sphingomonas sp., after 0, 4,8,12,24,30,36,48, and 96 h for initial 10, 25, and 50 mg L −1 PHE concentrations and after 0, 6,12,24,48,72,96,192, and 288 h for initial 100, 200, and 400 mg L −1 PHE concentrations.…”