title: Hydrocarbon pollutants shape bacterial community assembly of harbor sediments.
abstract: Petroleum pollution results in co-contamination by different classes of molecules, entailing the occurrence of marine sediments difficult to remediate, as in the case of the Ancona harbor (Mediterranean Sea, Italy). Autochthonous bioaugmentation (ABA), by exploiting the indigenous microbes of the environment to be treated, could represent a successful bioremediation strategy. In this perspective we aimed to i) identify the main drivers of the bacterial communities' richness in the sediments, ii) establish enrichment cultures with different hydrocarbon pollutants evaluating their effects on the bacterial communities' composition, and iii) obtain a collection of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria potentially exploitable in ABA. The correlation between the selection of different specialized bacterial populations and the type of pollutants was demonstrated by culture-independent analyses, and by establishing a collection of bacteria with different hydrocarbon degradation traits. Our observations indicate that pollution dictates the diversity of sediment bacterial communities and shapes the ABA potential in harbor sediments.
authors: Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors: Marta
authors: M
authors: Barbato
authors: Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors: Francesca
authors: F
authors: Mapelli
authors: EcoTechSystems Ltd., Ancona, Italy.
authors: Mirko
authors: M
authors: Magagnini
authors: Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors: Bessem
authors: B
authors: Chouaia
authors: EcoTechSystems Ltd., Ancona, Italy.
authors: Monica
authors: M
authors: Armeni
authors: Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Ramona
authors: R
authors: Marasco
authors: Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors: Elena
authors: E
authors: Crotti
authors: Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), University of Milan, Milan, Italy; Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Daniele
authors: D
authors: Daffonchio
authors: Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), University of Milan, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: sara.borin@unimi.it.
authors: Sara
authors: S
authors: Borin
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism*; D007558:Italy; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D064307:Microbiota / Q000187:drug effects*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Alcanivorax; Autochthonous bioaugmentation; Bacterial community; Oil contamination; Pyrosequencing