Discipline of Microbiology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
Water Sci Technol. 2012;65(5):932-9. doi: 10.2166/wst.2012.940.
Many aromatic hydrocarbons assigned to the so-called high production volume chemicals (HPVCs) are frequently encountered constituents of wastewaters that end up in the sea. Although the pollutant-degrading capabilities of freshwater bacteria are well known, the catabolism of pollutants by marine bacteria has received limited attention. A marine bacterium with the ability to aerobically utilize phenol - an HPVC and common aromatic pollutant - as its sole source of carbon and energy, was isolated from water samples from Durban Harbour, South Africa. The isolate, designated strain KM2, was assigned to the genus Marinobacter based on a variety of phenotypic properties and by analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence. The isolate displays an absolute growth requirement for NaCl which cannot be offset by replacement of NaCl with other salts. In addition to 4-methylphenol and 3,4-dimethylphenol, it utilizes a range of aliphatic hydrocarbons such as butan-1-ol and hexadecane under aerobic conditions. The transient formation of an intermediate exhibiting the UV-Vis spectral characteristics for 2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde in cultures growing on phenol suggests that the isolate catabolizes this compound via the meta cleavage pathway. These results indicate that members of the genus Marinobacter might participate in the elimination of aromatic pollutants in South African marine environments.
许多被归为所谓高产量化学品（HPVCs）的芳香烃经常是废水中的常见成分，最终会进入海洋。尽管淡水中细菌的污染物降解能力是众所周知的，但海洋细菌对污染物的分解作用却受到了有限的关注。从南非德班港的水样中分离到了一种能够好氧利用苯酚（一种 HPVC 和常见的芳香族污染物）作为其唯一碳源和能源的海洋细菌。该分离物被命名为菌株 KM2，根据多种表型特性和 16S rRNA 基因序列分析，被归为 Marinobacter 属。该分离物对 NaCl 有绝对的生长需求，不能用其他盐替代 NaCl 来抵消。除了 4-甲基苯酚和 3,4-二甲基苯酚外，它还能在好氧条件下利用一系列脂肪烃，如丁醇和十六烷。在以苯酚为唯一碳源和能源的培养物中，会短暂形成一种具有 2-羟基粘康酸半醛的紫外可见光谱特征的中间产物，这表明该分离物通过间位裂解途径代谢这种化合物。这些结果表明 Marinobacter 属的成员可能参与了南非海洋环境中芳香族污染物的消除。
