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Use of bromodeoxyuridine immunocapture to identify psychrotolerant phenanthrene-degrading bacteria in phenanthrene-enriched polluted Baltic Sea sediments

Journal Article · · FEMS Microbiology-Ecology

The aim of this study was to enrich and identify psychrotolerant phenanthrenedegrading bacteria from polluted Baltic Sea sediments. Polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated sediments were spiked with phenanthrene and incubated for 2 months in the presence of bromodeoxyuridine that is incorporated into the DNA of replicating cells. The bromodeoxyuridine-incorporated DNA was extracted by immunocapture and analyzed by terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism and 16S rRNA gene cloning and sequencing to identify bacterial populations that were growing. In addition, degradation genes were quantified in the bromodeoxyuridine-incorporated DNA by real-time PCR. Phenanthrene concentrations decreased after 2 months of incubation in the phenanthrene-enriched sediments and this reduction correlated to increases in copy numbers of xylE and phnAc dioxygenase genes. Representatives of Exiguobacterium, Schewanella,Methylomonas, Pseudomonas, Bacteroides and an uncultured Deltaproteobacterium and a Gammaproteobacterium dominated the growing community in the phenanthrene spiked sediments. Isolates that were closely related to three of these bacteria (two pseudomonads and an Exiguobacterium sp.) could reduce phenanthrene concentrations in pure cultures and they all harbored phnAc dioxygenase genes. These results confirm that this combination of culture-based and molecular approaches was useful for identification of actively growing bacterial species with a high potential for phenanthrene degradation.

Research Organization:
Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
Earth Sciences Division
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
948568
Report Number(s):
LBNL-1538E
Journal Information:
FEMS Microbiology-Ecology, Journal Name: FEMS Microbiology-Ecology
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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