title: Biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons by psychrotrophic Pseudomonas strains possessing both alkane (alk) and naphthalene (nah) catabolic pathways.
abstract: Three hydrocarbon-degrading psychrotrophic bacteria were isolated from petroleum-contaminated Arctic soils and characterized. Two of the strains, identified as Pseudomonas spp., degraded C5 to C12 n-alkanes, toluene, and naphthalene at both 5 and 25 degrees C and possessed both the alk catabolic pathway for alkane biodegradation and the nah catabolic pathway for polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon biodegradation. One of these strains contained both a plasmid slightly smaller than the P. oleovorans OCT plasmid, which hybridized to an alkB gene probe, and a NAH plasmid similar to NAH7, demonstrating that both catabolic pathways, located on separate plasmids, can naturally coexist in the same bacterium.
authors.affiliation: NRC-Biotechnology Research Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Whyte
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bourbonniére
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Greer
mesh_terms: D000473:Alkanes / Q000378:metabolism; D001110:Arctic Regions; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009281:Naphthalenes / Q000378:metabolism; D009795:Octanes / Q000378:metabolism; D010578:Petroleum / Q000378:metabolism*; D010957:Plasmids; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D014050:Toluene / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000473:Alkanes; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D009281:Naphthalenes; D009795:Octanes; D010578:Petroleum; D012989:Soil Pollutants; C031721:naphthalene; D014050:Toluene