title: Metagenomics reveals the high polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-degradation potential of abundant uncultured bacteria from chronically polluted subantarctic and temperate coastal marine environments.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the potential to degrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of yet-to-be-cultured bacterial populations from chronically polluted intertidal sediments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A gene variant encoding the alpha subunit of the catalytic component of an aromatic-ring-hydroxylating oxygenase (RHO) was abundant in intertidal sediments from chronically polluted subantarctic and temperate coastal environments, and its abundance increased after PAH amendment. Conversely, this marker gene was not detected in sediments from a nonimpacted site, even after a short-term PAH exposure. A metagenomic fragment carrying this gene variant was identified in a fosmid library of subantarctic sediments. This fragment contained five pairs of alpha and beta subunit genes and a lone alpha subunit gene of oxygenases, classified as belonging to three different RHO functional classes. In silico structural analysis suggested that two of these oxygenases contain large substrate-binding pockets, capable of accepting high molecular weight PAHs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The identified uncultured micro-organism presents the potential to degrade aromatic hydrocarbons with various chemical structures, and could represent an important member of the PAH-degrading community in these polluted coastal environments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This work provides valuable information for the design of environmental molecular diagnostic tools and for the biotechnological application of RHO enzymes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología Ambiental, Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR CENPAT-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Loviso
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología Ambiental, Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR CENPAT-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lozada
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología Ambiental, Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR CENPAT-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Guibert
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología Ambiental, Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR CENPAT-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Musumeci
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología Ambiental, Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR CENPAT-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarango Cardenas
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología Ambiental, Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR CENPAT-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.
authors.forename: R V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Kuin
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología Ambiental, Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR CENPAT-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Marcos
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología Ambiental, Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR CENPAT-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Dionisi
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / Q000378:metabolism; D056186:Metagenomics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism*; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis / Q000382:microbiology*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical
chemical_list: D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: intertidal sediments; metagenomic library; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; protein modelling; quantitative PCR; ring-hydroxylating oxygenases