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Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.01099-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Diversity of ndo genes in mangrove sediments exposed to different sources of PAH pollution

Federal Biological Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry (BBA), Braunschweig, Germany; Laboratory of Ecology and Biotechnology of Yeast, Department of Microbiology, ICB, UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Laboratory of Hydrobiology, Institute of Biology, CCS, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Laboratory of Taxonomy and Ecology of Microorganisms, Institute of Microbiology, CCS, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: k.smalla{at}bba.de.

	Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) pollution originating from oil spills, wood and fuel combustion are pollutants which are among the major threats to mangrove ecosystems. In this study, the composition and relative abundance of naphthalene dioxygenase (ndo) genes which are important for bacterial adaptation to environmental PAH contamination was investigated. Three urban mangrove sites were selected which had a characteristic composition and level of PAH compounds in the sediments. The diversity and relative abundance of ndo genes in total community DNA were assessed by a newly developed ndo-DGGE approach and by PCR amplification with primers targeting ndo genes with subsequent Southern blot hybridization analyses. Bacterial populations inhabiting sediments of urban mangroves under impact of different sources of PAH contamination harbor distinct ndo genotypes. Sequencing of cloned ndo amplicons comigrating with dominant DGGE bands revealed new ndo genotypes. PCR-Southern blot analysis and ndo-DGGE showed that the frequently studied nah and phn genotypes were not detected as dominant ndo types in the mangrove sediments. However, ndo genotypes related to nagAc like genes were detected but only in oil-contaminated mangrove sediments. Long-term impact of PAH contamination together with the specific environmental conditions at each site may have affected the abundance and diversity of ndo genes in sediment of urban mangroves.