Bioremediation of Atmospheric Hydrocarbons via Bacteria Naturally Associated with Leaves of Higher Plants

Abstract

Bacteria associated with leaves of sixteen cultivated and wild plant species from all over Kuwait were analyzed by a culture-independent approach. This technique depended on partial sequencing of 16S rDNA regions in total genomic DNA from the bacterial consortia and comparing the resulting sequences with those in the GenBank database. To release bacterial cells from leaves, tough methods such as sonication co-released too much leaf chloroplasts whose DNA interfered with the bacterial DNA. A more satisfactory bacterial release with a minimum of chloroplast co-release was done by gently rubbing the leaf surfaces with soft tooth brushes in phosphate buffer. The leaves of all plant species harbored on their surfaces bacterial communities predominated by hydrocarbonoclastic (hydrocarbon-utilizing) bacterial genera. Leaves of 6 representative plants brought about in the laboratory effective removal of volatile hydrocarbons in sealed microcosms. Each individual plant species had a unique bacterial community structure. Collectively, the phyllospheric microflora on the studied plants comprised the genera Flavobacterium, Halomonas, Arthrobacter, Marinobacter, Neisseria, Ralstonia, Ochrobactrum. Exiguobacterium, Planomicrobium, Propionibacterium, Kocuria, Rhodococcus and Stenotrophomonas. This community structure was dramatically different from the structure we determined earlier for the same plants using the culture-dependent approach, although in both cases, hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria were frequent.

Potential of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacterial Isolates to Contribute to Soil Fertility

“…The genera Bacillus , Stenotrophomonas , Microbacterium , Pseudoxanthomonas , Ochrobactrum , and Flavobacterium were also identified, with each of them occurring as either a single isolate or two isolates and clustering into a single OTU. Each of these genera of isolates have previously been associated with PAH degradation in different environmental matrices [ 14 , 35 , 36 ]. This study reported culturable PAH-degrading bacteria isolates.…”

The Volatilomes of Symbiodiniaceae-Associated Bacteria Are Influenced by Chemicals Derived From Their Algal Partner

“…This compound has previously been detected in 34 bacterial genera (mVOC 2.0; Lemfack et al, 2018) and has been shown to have a strong antifungal activity (Fernando et al, 2005), while also playing a role in inter-organism signaling (Thibout et al, 1995). Marinobacter has previously been reported to consume volatile hydrocarbons (Ali et al, 2015), yet to the best of our knowledge no studies have reported BVOC production by this genus. Given the close association of this bacterial genus with phytoplankton, its production of the diverse range of BVOCs reported here may contribute to the complex inter-organism signaling underpinning these relationships.…”

Template Preparation Affects 16S rRNA High-Throughput Sequencing Analysis of Phyllosphere Microbial Communities

“…In addition, Suda et al (2008) attempted the direct extraction of phyllosphere microbial DNA using chemical reagents, without the dislodging step. In this study, we used sonication separation to dislodge microorganisms from leaves because the brush rubbing method is complex and not highly reproducible; furthermore, another study ( Ali et al, 2015 ) indicated that the DNA produced using the latter method contains substantial chloroplast contamination.…”