Assessment of the Degradation Potential and Genomic Insights towards Phenanthrene by Dietzia psychralcaliphila JI1D

• Published in: Microorganisms
• Main Authors: Janardhan Ausuri, Giovanni Andrea Vitale, Daniela Coppola, Fortunato Palma Esposito, Carmine Buonocore, Donatella de Pascale
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021
• Subjects: Dietzia; bioremediation; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); whole-genome sequencing; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Deception Island; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9061327; https://doaj.org/article/0e72d540da944befa2efeeb162520024

Extreme marine environments are potential sources of novel microbial isolations with dynamic metabolic activity. Dietzia psychralcaliphila J1ID was isolated from sediments originated from Deception Island, Antarctica, grown over phenanthrene. This strain was also assessed for its emulsifying activity. In liquid media, Dietzia psychralcaliphila J1ID showed 84.66% degradation of phenanthrene examined with HPLC-PDA. The identification of metabolites by GC-MS combined with its whole genome analysis provided the pathway involved in the degradation process. Whole genome sequencing indicated a genome size of 4,216,480 bp with 3961 annotated genes. The presence of a wide range of monooxygenase and dioxygenase, as well as dehydrogenase catabolic genes provided the genomic basis for the biodegradation. The strain possesses the genetic compartments for a wide range of toxic aromatic compounds, which includes the ben ABCD and cat ABC clusters. COG2146, COG4638, and COG0654 through COG analysis confirmed the genes involved in the oxygenation reaction of the hydrocarbons by the strain. Insights into assessing the depletion of phenanthrene throughout the incubation process and the genetic components involved were obtained. This study indicates the degradation potential of the strain, which can also be further expanded to other model polyaromatic hydrocarbons.