Abstract
We report the isolation a halophilic bacterium that degrades both aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons as the sole sources of carbon at high salinity from produced water. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA-gene sequences shows the isolate is a close relative of Modicisalibacter tunisiensis isolated from an oil-field water in Tunisia. We designate our isolate as Modicisalibacter sp. strain Wilcox. Genome analysis of strain Wilcox revealed the presence of a repertoire of genes involved in the metabolism of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. Laboratory culture studies corroborated the predicted hydrocarbon degradation potential. The strain degraded benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes at salinities ranging from 0.016 to 4.0 M NaCl, with optimal degradation at 1 M NaCl. Also, the strain degraded phenol, benzoate, biphenyl and phenylacetate as the sole sources of carbon at 2.5 M NaCl. Among aliphatic compounds, the strain degraded n-decane and n-hexadecane as the sole sources of carbon at 2.5 M NaCl. Genome analysis also predicted the presence of many heavy metal resistance genes including genes for metal efflux pumps, transport proteins, and enzymatic detoxification. Overall, due to its ability to degrade many hydrocarbons and withstand high salt and heavy metals, strain Wilcox may prove useful for remediation of produced waters.
Highlights
The inevitable contamination of soil and water by hydrocarbons and brine during oil and gas exploration, production and transportation operations results in potentially harmful impacts on human health and the environment[1]
In this article we report the isolation of a halophilic bacterium from PW from Payne County, OK, USA
The isolate showed > 99% sequence identity to a 16S rRNA gene sequenced from an uncultured bacterium in San Juan Basin disposal site produced water (Silva accession number HQ893769)
Summary
The inevitable contamination of soil and water by hydrocarbons and brine during oil and gas exploration, production and transportation operations results in potentially harmful impacts on human health and the environment[1]. Relatively little is known about the microbial degradation of hydrocarbons in hypersaline environments such as PW, especially about their practical application for bioremediation This is paramount, as conventional microorganisms cannot function well in high-salinity conditions due to disruption of the cell membrane, denaturation of proteins, and other detrimental effects. In this article we report the isolation of a halophilic bacterium from PW from Payne County, OK, USA This organism is capable of degrading both aliphatic and aromatic compounds at high salinity. There are recent reports on the isolation and characterization of microorganisms that degrade petroleum compounds from contaminated saline environments[15,16,17,18,19,20], to our knowledge very little is known about similar microorganisms living in PW21,22. Understanding the diversity, ecology, physiology and catabolic potential of such organisms is crucial for developing technologies for the remediation of saline PW for beneficial uses
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