Li, Jibing and Zhang, Dayi and Song, Mengke and Jiang, Longfei and Wang, Yujie and Luo, Chunling and Zhang, Gan (2017) Novel bacteria capable of degrading phenanthrene in activated sludge revealed by stable-isotope probing coupled with high-throughput sequencing. Biodegradation, 28 (5-6). pp. 423-436. ISSN 0923-9820
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Abstract
The indigenous microorganisms responsible for degrading phenanthrene (PHE) in activated biosludge were identified using DNA-based stable isotope probing. Besides the well-known PHE degraders Burkholderia, Ralstonia, Sinobacteraceae and Arthrobacter, we for the first time linked the taxa Paraburkholderia and Kaistobacter with in situ PHE biodegradation. Analysis of PAH-RHDα gene detected in the heavy DNA fraction of (13)C-PHE treatment suggested the mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer or inter-species hybridisation in PAH-RHD gene spread within the microbial community. Additionally, three cultivable PHE degraders, Microbacterium sp. PHE-1, Rhodanobacter sp. PHE-2 and Rhodococcus sp. PHE-3, were isolated from the same activated biosludge. Among them, Rhodanobacter sp. PHE-2 is the first identified strain in its genus with PHE-degrading ability. However, the involvement of these strains in PHE degradation in situ was questionable, due to their limited enrichment in the heavy DNA fraction of (13)C-PHE treatment and lack of PAH-RHDα gene found in these isolates. Collectively, our findings provide a deeper understanding of the diversity and functions of indigenous microbes in PHE degradation.