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Indigenous oil-degrading bacteria in crude oil-contaminated seawater of the Yellow sea, China

  • Environmental biotechnology
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An Erratum to this article was published on 13 July 2014

Abstract

Indigenous oil-degrading bacteria play an important role in efficient remediation of polluted marine environments. In this study, we investigated the diversity and abundance of indigenous oil-degrading bacteria and functional genes in crude oil-contaminated seawater of the Dalian coast. The gene copy number bacterial 16S rRNA in total were determined to be about 1010 copies L−1 in contaminated seawater and 109 copies L−1 in uncontaminated seawater. Bacteria of Alcanivorax, Marinobacter, Novosphingobium, Rhodococcus, and Pseudoalteromonas were found to be predominant oil-degrading bacteria in the polluted seawater in situ. In addition, bacteria belonging to Algoriphagus, Aestuariibacter, Celeribacter, Fabibacter, Zobellia, Tenacibaculum, Citreicella, Roseivirga, Winogradskyella, Thioclava, Polaribacter, and Pelagibaca were confirmed to be the first time as an oil-degrading bacterium. The indigenous functional enzymes, including AlkB or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ring-hydroxylating dioxygenases α (PAH-RHDα) coding genes from Gram-positive (GP) and Gram-negative bacteria (GN), were revealed and quite diverse. About 1010 to 1011 copies L−1 for the expression of alkB genes were recovered and showed that the two-thirds of all the AlkB sequences were closely related to widely distributed Alcanivorax and Marinobacter isolates. About 109 copies L−1 seawater for the expression of RHDαGN genes in contaminated seawater and showed that almost all RHDαGN sequences were closely related to an uncultured bacterium; however, RHDαGP genes represented only about 105 copies L−1 seawater for the expression of genes in contaminated seawater, and the naphthalene dioxygenase sequences from Rhodococcus and Mycobacterium species were most abundant. Together, their data provide evidence that there exists an active aerobic microbial community indigenous to the coastal area of the Yellow sea that is capable of degrading petroleum hydrocarbons.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the project sponsored by the Scientific Research Foundation of Third Institute of Oceanography, SOA (2011036), Public Welfare Project of SOA (201005032), and the National Science Foundation of China (41106151, 41176154).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, SOA, 361005, Xiamen, China

    Wanpeng Wang, Rongqiu Zhong, Dapeng Shan & Zongze Shao

  2. State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Marine Genetic Resources, 361005, Xiamen, China

    Wanpeng Wang, Rongqiu Zhong, Dapeng Shan & Zongze Shao

  3. Collaborative Innovation Center of Deep Sea Biology, 361005, Xiamen, China

    Wanpeng Wang, Rongqiu Zhong, Dapeng Shan & Zongze Shao

  4. Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources of Fujian Province, 361005, Xiamen, China

    Wanpeng Wang, Rongqiu Zhong, Dapeng Shan & Zongze Shao

  5. Life Science College, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China

    Rongqiu Zhong

  6. The Third Institute of Oceanography, Daxue Road178, Xiamen, 361005, Fujian, China

    Wanpeng Wang & Zongze Shao

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  1. Wanpeng Wang
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  2. Rongqiu Zhong
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Correspondence to Zongze Shao.

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Wanpeng Wang and Rongqiu Zhong contributed equally to this work.

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Wang, W., Zhong, R., Shan, D. et al. Indigenous oil-degrading bacteria in crude oil-contaminated seawater of the Yellow sea, China. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 98, 7253–7269 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-5817-1

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