GC-MS hydrocarbon degradation profile data of SI8, a bacterium capable of degrading aromatics at low temperatures.

The ability of the psychrotrophic bacterium SI8 to grow and degrade aromatic hydrocarbons efficiently at low temperature is shown in this study. The robust growth of SI8 was demonstrated in jet fuel and an aromatic blend. The bacterium showed 2.5 to 3-fold faster growth in the aromatic blend than in jet fuel. The hydrocarbons degradation profile of SI8 at ambient temperature (i.e., 28 °C) and low temperature (i.e., 4 °C) was characterized by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. GC-MS data demonstrated that SI8 is a novel psychrotrophic bacterium with the ability to degrade aromatic hydrocarbons at temperatures as low as 4 °C. Specifically, SI8 consumed toluene, ethylbenzene, n-propylbenzene and methyl ethyl benzene efficiently. The data presented here serves to characterize the hydrocarbon degradation profile of SI8 and corroborates the capacity of this bacterium to degrade aromatic hydrocarbons at low temperatures. The raw GC-MS data for the degradation of hydrocarbons by SI8 grown at 4 °C and 28 °C for 14 days have been deposited in Mendeley Data and can be retrieved from https://dx.doi.org/10.17632/z9292bvdmh.1 and https://dx.doi.org/10.17632/dp3sgwpj23.1. The datasets and raw data presented here were associated with the main research work "Metagenomic characterization reveals complex association of soil hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria" [1].