Hydrocarbon degradation by a newly isolated thermophilic Anoxybacillus sp. with bioemulsifier production and new alkB genes. Issue 124 (30th November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xia, Wenjie; Dong, Hao; Zheng, Chenggang; Cui, Qingfeng; He, Panqing; Tang, Yongchun
• Is Part Of: RSC advances. Volume 5:Issue 124(2015)
• Page Start: 102367
• Page End: 102377
• Publication Date: 2015-11-30
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540.5
• DOI: 10.1039/c5ra17137g
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2046-2069

Abstract

Abstract : In this work, a new thermophilic bacterial strain was isolated and identified as Anoxybacillus sp. WJ-4. This strain of WJ-4 can degrade a wide range of hydrocarbons, and production of an oligosaccharide–lipid–peptide bioemulsifier was detected. Abstract : Interest in biodegradation of petroleum derived pollutants by thermophilic bacteria has been steadily increasing in recent decades. In this work, a newly isolated thermophilic bacterial strain was isolated from a deep petroleum reservoir and identified as Anoxybacillus sp. WJ-4 based on an analysis of its physiological characteristics, 16S rRNA sequencing, GC content and cellular fatty acids. It is the first report that strain WJ-4 can degrade a wide range of hydrocarbons (C8–C22) at 67 °C. The production of an oligosaccharide–lipid–peptide bioemulsifier was detected. It exhibited an excellent emulsification activity with various oil phases (EI24 > 60%), and the ability to increase cell surface lipophilicity during degradation, but has no significant impact on surface tension, with a reduction from 72.22 mN m −1 to 52.45 mN m −1 . Four alkane monooxygenase genes showed a high phylogenetic relationship (>95%) with alkB genes from Geobacillus . These results indicate that this newly isolated bacterial strain and its bioemulsifier have great potential for environmental remediation and petroleum recovery under thermophilic conditions.