title: Bioremediation of Atmospheric Hydrocarbons via Bacteria Naturally Associated with Leaves of Higher Plants.
abstract: Bacteria associated with leaves of sixteen cultivated and wild plant species from all over Kuwait were analyzed by a culture-independent approach. This technique depended on partial sequencing of 16S rDNA regions in total genomic DNA from the bacterial consortia and comparing the resulting sequences with those in the GenBank database. To release bacterial cells from leaves, tough methods such as sonication co-released too much leaf chloroplasts whose DNA interfered with the bacterial DNA. A more satisfactory bacterial release with a minimum of chloroplast co-release was done by gently rubbing the leaf surfaces with soft tooth brushes in phosphate buffer. The leaves of all plant species harbored on their surfaces bacterial communities predominated by hydrocarbonoclastic (hydrocarbon-utilizing) bacterial genera. Leaves of 6 representative plants brought about in the laboratory effective removal of volatile hydrocarbons in sealed microcosms. Each individual plant species had a unique bacterial community structure. Collectively, the phyllospheric microflora on the studied plants comprised the genera Flavobacterium, Halomonas, Arthrobacter, Marinobacter, Neisseria, Ralstonia, Ochrobactrum. Exiguobacterium, Planomicrobium, Propionibacterium, Kocuria, Rhodococcus and Stenotrophomonas. This community structure was dramatically different from the structure we determined earlier for the same plants using the culture-dependent approach, although in both cases, hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria were frequent.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological Sciences , Faculty of Science, Kuwait University , Safat , Kuwait.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological Sciences , Faculty of Science, Kuwait University , Safat , Kuwait.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Awadhi
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological Sciences , Faculty of Science, Kuwait University , Safat , Kuwait.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dashti
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological Sciences , Faculty of Science, Kuwait University , Safat , Kuwait.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khanafer
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological Sciences , Faculty of Science, Kuwait University , Safat , Kuwait.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: El-Nemr
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological Sciences , Faculty of Science, Kuwait University , Safat , Kuwait.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sorkhoh
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological Sciences , Faculty of Science, Kuwait University , Safat , Kuwait.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Radwan
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism*; D007730:Kuwait; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: atmospheric hydrocarbons; hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria; phyllospheric bacteria