AUTHOR=Lyu Lina , Li Jie , Chen Yu , Mai Zhimao , Wang Lin , Li Qiqi , Zhang Si 

TITLE=Degradation potential of alkanes by diverse oil-degrading bacteria from deep-sea sediments of Haima cold seep areas, South China Sea

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.920067

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.920067

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Marine oil spills are a significant concern worldwide, destroying the ecological environment and threatening the survival of marine life. Various oil-degrading bacteria have been widely reported in marine environments in response to marine oil pollution. However, little information is known about culturable oil-degrading bacteria in cold seep of the deep-sea environments, which are rich in hydrocarbons. This study enriched five oil-degrading consortia from sediments collected from the Haima cold seep areas of the South China Sea. <italic>Parvibaculum</italic>, <italic>Erythrobacter</italic>, <italic>Acinetobacter</italic>, <italic>Alcanivorax</italic>, <italic>Pseudomonas</italic>, <italic>Marinobacter</italic>, <italic>Halomonas</italic>, and <italic>Idiomarina</italic> were the dominant genera. Further results of bacterial growth and degradation ability tests indicated seven efficient alkane-degrading bacteria belonging to <italic>Acinetobacter</italic>, <italic>Alcanivorax</italic>, <italic>Kangiella</italic>, <italic>Limimaricola</italic>, <italic>Marinobacter, Flavobacterium</italic>, and <italic>Paracoccus</italic>, whose degradation rates were higher in crude oil (70.3–78.0%) than that in diesel oil (62.7–66.3%). From the view of carbon chain length, alkane degradation rates were medium chains &gt; long chains &gt; short chains. In addition, <italic>Kangiella aquimarina</italic> F7, <italic>Acinetobacter venetianus</italic> F1, <italic>Limimaricola variabilis</italic> F8, <italic>Marinobacter nauticus</italic> J5, <italic>Flavobacterium sediminis</italic> N3, and <italic>Paracoccus sediminilitoris</italic> N6 were first identified as oil-degrading bacteria from deep-sea environments. This study will provide insight into the bacterial community structures and oil-degrading bacterial diversity in the Haima cold seep areas, South China Sea, and offer bacterial resources to oil bioremediation applications.</p>