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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2009, p. 6232-6239, Vol. 75, No. 19
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02726-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Actions of Mycobacterium sp. Strain AP1 on the Saturated- and Aromatic-Hydrocarbon Fractions of Fuel Oil in a Marine Medium{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Joaquim Vila and Magdalena Grifoll*

Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Received 28 November 2008/ Accepted 31 July 2009

The pyrene-degrading Mycobacterium sp. strain AP1 grew in nutrient-supplemented artificial seawater with a heavy fuel oil as the sole carbon source, causing the complete removal of all linear (C12 to C40) and branched alkanes from the aliphatic fraction, as well as an extensive degradation of the three- and four-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) phenanthrene (95%), anthracene (80%), fluoranthene (80%), pyrene (75%), and benzo(a)anthracene (30%). Alkylated PAHs, which are more abundant in crude oils than the nonsubstituted compounds, were selectively attacked at extents that varied from more than 90% for dimethylnaphthalenes, methylphenanthrenes, methylfluorenes, and methyldibenzothiophenes to about 30% for monomethylated fluoranthenes/pyrenes and trimethylated phenanthrenes and dibenzothiophenes. Identification of key metabolites indicated the utilization of phenanthrene, pyrene, and fluoranthene by known assimilatory metabolic routes, while other components were cooxidized. Detection of mono- and dimethylated phthalic acids demonstrated ring cleavage and further oxidation of alkyl PAHs. The extensive degradation of the alkanes, the two-, three-, and four-ring PAHs, and their 1-, 2-, and 3-methyl derivatives from a complex mixture of hydrocarbons by Mycobacterium sp. strain AP1 illustrates the great substrate versatility of alkane- and PAH-degrading mycobacteria.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Phone: 34 934 035 752. Fax: 34 934 034 629. E-mail: mgrifoll{at}ub.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 7 August 2009.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2009, p. 6232-6239, Vol. 75, No. 19
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02726-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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