Microbiology Program, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kuwait University, PO Box 5969, 13060, Safat, Kuwait.
Extremophiles. 2010 May;14(3):321-8. doi: 10.1007/s00792-010-0312-9. Epub 2010 Apr 3.
Two extreme halophilic Haloferax strains and one strain each of Halobacterium and Halococcus were isolated from a hypersaline coastal area of the Arabian Gulf on a mineral salt medium with crude oil vapor as a sole source of carbon and energy. These archaea needed at least 1 M NaCl for growth in culture, and grew best in the presence of 4 M NaCl or more. Optimum growth temperatures lied between 40 and 45 degrees C. The four archaea were resistant to the antibiotics chloramphenicol, cycloheximide, nalidixic acid, penicillin, streptomycin and tetracycline. The strains could grow on a wide scope of aliphatic and aromatic (both mono-and polynuclear) hydrocarbons, as sole sources of carbon and energy. Quantitative measurements revealed that these extreme halophilic prokaryotes could biodegrade crude oil (13-47%, depending on the strain and medium salinity), n-octadecane (28-67%) and phenanthrene (13-30%) in culture after 3 weeks of incubation. The rates of biodegradation by all strains were enhanced with increasing NaCl concentration in the medium. Optimal concentration was 3 M NaCl, but even with 4 M NaCl the hydrocarbon-biodegradation rates were higher than with 1 and 2 M NaCl. It was concluded that these archaea could contribute to self-cleaning and bioremediation of oil-polluted hypersaline environments.
从阿拉伯湾沿海地区的一个高盐度地区，在一种以粗油蒸气为唯一碳源和能源的无机盐培养基上，分离到两种极端嗜盐的 Haloferax 菌株和一种 Halobacterium 和 Halococcus 菌株。这些古菌在培养物中至少需要 1 M NaCl 才能生长，并且在存在 4 M NaCl 或更高浓度的 NaCl 时生长最好。最佳生长温度介于 40 和 45 摄氏度之间。这四种古菌对氯霉素、环己酰亚胺、萘啶酸、青霉素、链霉素和四环素等抗生素具有抗性。这些菌株可以在广泛的脂肪族和芳香族（单环和多环）烃类作为唯一的碳源和能源的条件下生长。定量测量表明，这些极端嗜盐的原核生物可以在培养 3 周后生物降解原油（取决于菌株和培养基盐度，为 13-47%）、正十八烷（28-67%）和菲（13-30%）。所有菌株的生物降解率都随着培养基中 NaCl 浓度的增加而提高。最佳浓度为 3 M NaCl，但即使在 4 M NaCl 下，烃类生物降解率也高于 1 M 和 2 M NaCl。结论是，这些古菌可能有助于自清洁和受石油污染的高盐环境的生物修复。
