title: Biodegradation of crude oil by thermophilic bacteria isolated from a volcano island.
abstract: One-hundred and fifty different thermophilic bacteria isolated from a volcanic island were screened for detection of an alkane hydroxylase gene using degenerated primers developed to amplify genes related to the Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas oleovorans alkane hydroxylases. Ten isolates carrying the alkJ gene were further characterized by 16s rDNA gene sequencing. Nine out of ten isolates were phylogenetically affiliated with Geobacillus species and one isolate with Bacillus species. These isolates were able to grow in liquid cultures with crude oil as the sole carbon source and were found to degrade long chain crude oil alkanes in a range between 46.64% and 87.68%. Results indicated that indigenous thermophilic hydrocarbon degraders of Bacillus and Geobacillus species are of special significance as they could be efficiently used for bioremediation of oil-polluted soil and composting processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Faculty of Biology, Microbiology Group, University of Athens, 15781 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meintanis
authors.forename: Kalliopi I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Chalkou
authors.forename: Konstantinos Ar
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kormas
authors.forename: Amalia D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Karagouni
mesh_terms: D001406:Bacillaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D001407:Bacillus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D042926:Cytochrome P-450 CYP4A / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D006115:Greece; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010578:Petroleum; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D010578:Petroleum; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D042926:Cytochrome P-450 CYP4A