Isolation of alkane-degrading bacteria from deep-sea Mediterranean sediments.
OBJECTIVE
To isolate and identify alkane-degrading bacteria from deep-sea superficial sediments sampled at a north-western Mediterranean station.


RESULTS
Sediments from the water/sediment interface at a 2400 m depth were sampled with a multicorer at the ANTARES site off the French Mediterranean coast and were promptly enriched with Maya crude oil as the sole source of carbon and energy. Alkane-degrading bacteria belonging to the genera Alcanivorax, Pseudomonas, Marinobacter, Rhodococcus and Clavibacter-like were isolated, indicating that the same groups were potentially involved in hydrocarbon biodegradation in deep sea as in coastal waters.


CONCLUSIONS
These results confirm that members of Alcanivorax are important obligate alkane degraders in deep-sea environments and coexist with other degrading bacteria inhabiting the deep-subsurface sediment of the Mediterranean.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that the isolates obtained have potential applications in bioremediation strategies in deep-sea environments and highlight the need to identify specific piezophilic hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria (HCB) from these environments.
Tapilatu
Y
Y
Laboratoire de Microbiologie Géochimie et Ecologie Marines, CNRS/INSU, UMR 6117, Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille, Université de la Méditerranée, Campus de Luminy, Case 901, Marseille Cedex 9, France.
Acquaviva
M
M
Guigue
C
C
Miralles
G
G
Bertrand
J-C
JC
Cuny
P
P
D000473:Alkanes / Q000378:metabolism*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D010578:Petroleum / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D014871:Water Microbiology; D018508:Water Purification
D000473:Alkanes; D010578:Petroleum