Abstract
The aim of the work was to carry out the physiological, biochemical and genetic characterization of the Exiguobacterium alkaliphilum B-3531D strain. This strain is promising for use in the field of environmental biotechnology, since it has a pronounced ability to utilize crude oil and individual hydrocarbons in a wide temperature range. The genome of the strain was sequenced and completely assembled, it consists of a 2,903,369 bp circular chromosome and two circular plasmids, namely, pE73 (73,590 bp) and pE52 (52,125 bp). When cultivated in a mineral medium containing 2% of crude oil, the strain utilized 50% within 30 days of the experiment. In simulated seawater with the same oil content, the loss of hydrocarbons was 45% over the same period. For the first time we observed in an E. alkaliphilum strain the ability to efficiently utilize crude oil, including with an increased content of sodium chloride in the cultivation medium.
Highlights
The genus Exiguobacterium was proposed by Collins et al [1] for an expanding group of coryneform bacteria which encompasses aerobically growing, asporogenous, non-partially-acid-fast, irregularly shaped Gram-positive rods [2]
The Exiguobacterium genus, a sister clade of the Bacillus genus, has not been sufficiently studied as yet. The interest this genus attracts is due to the fact that many Exiguobacteria were isolated from environmental conditions which are stressful for most microor ganisms
We found that the strain has a rather wide range of survival, which is typical for a repre sentative of Exiguobacteria (Table 2)
Summary
The genus Exiguobacterium was proposed by Collins et al [1] for an expanding group of coryneform bacteria which encompasses aerobically growing, asporogenous, non-partially-acid-fast, irregularly shaped Gram-positive rods [2]. The Exiguobacterium genus, a sister clade of the Bacillus genus, has not been sufficiently studied as yet The interest this genus attracts is due to the fact that many Exiguobacteria were isolated from environmental conditions which are stressful for most microor ganisms. In 2017, Gutierrez-Preciado et al [9] have described the N139 strain isolated from an alpine lake in the Andes. Using the N139 strain as a case study, Gutierrez- Preciado et al have proposed a new species of E. chiriqhucha and described its genome. They have proposed the species Exiguo bacterium himgiriensis [18] described on the basis of the type strain K22–26T, but it has not been validated
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