Topic Area: 9c. Remediation and Management of Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Sites

Formatted Title:

Effect of Biosurfactant on the Hydrocarbon Degradation Activity of a Bacterial Consortium in Seawater

Background/Objectives:

The Gulf of Mexico is constantly exposed to hydrocarbons, derived from both anthropogenic activities and natural seeps. This has facilitated the isolation of marine bacteria capable of using hydrocarbons as a carbon source and the formation of synthetic consortia that can degrade these compounds when tested in seawater. A microcosm study was conducted using seawater contaminated with 0.1% light crude oil, employing a synthetic consortium capable of degrading hydrocarbons from seawater. The consortium comprised four strains (Alloalcanivorax xenomutans GOM8, Paenarthrobacter sp. GOM3, Halopseudomonas aestusnigri GOM5 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa GOM9), and their genomes were evaluated to identify those with the potential to synthesize surfactant compounds (Rojas-Vargas et al., 2022, 2024).

Approach/Activities:

The aim of this study is to enhance the capacity of the consortium to remove light crude oil without the contribution of P. aeruginosa (an opportunistic pathogen) by supplementing it with the biosurfactant derived from P. aeruginosa. A bioinformatic search was conducted to identify the genes involved in the synthesis of rhamnolipids (rhlAB and rhlC genes).

Liliana Pardo-López

Affiliation

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(Group 1, Poster Board #30) Effect of Biosurfactant on the Hydrocarbon Degradation Activity of a Bacterial Consortium in Seawater