Bacterial growth and biofilm production on pyrene

Enrichment cultures inoculated with Arctic soil yielded a biofilm that grew on pyrene and phenanthrene. In a 60-day period, the biofilm degraded 20 μg ml−1 pyrene or 39 μg ml−1 phenanthrene. Single colonized pyrene crystals (approximately 1.5×0.75×0.35 mm) yielded 1011 culturable heterotrophs and 10...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:FEMS Microbiology Ecology
Main Authors: Eriksson, Mikael, Dalhammar, Gunnel, Mohn, William W.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press 2002
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Online Access:http://femsec.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/40/1/21
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2002.tb00932.x
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Summary:Enrichment cultures inoculated with Arctic soil yielded a biofilm that grew on pyrene and phenanthrene. In a 60-day period, the biofilm degraded 20 μg ml−1 pyrene or 39 μg ml−1 phenanthrene. Single colonized pyrene crystals (approximately 1.5×0.75×0.35 mm) yielded 1011 culturable heterotrophs and 105 biofilm propagules. Analysis of ribosomal intergenic spacers identified six phylotypes in a clone library from the pyrene biofilm. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the phylotypes, in order of decreasing abundance, are most closely related to members of the genera Polaromonas , Sphingomonas , Alcaligenes , Caulobacter and Variovorax . Two isolates capable of growth on pyrene, both Pseudomonas spp., were obtained from the pyrene enrichment culture. Growth of microbial biofilms on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons has not been reported previously, and this mode of growth may have important effects on substrate uptake.