Culture-dependent and -independent approaches establish the complexity of a PAH-degrading microbial consortium.

A microbial consortium (AM) obtained by sequential enrichment in liquid culture with a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) mixture of three- and four-ringed PAHs as a sole source of carbon and energy was examined using a triple-approach method based on various cultivation strategies, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), and the screening of 16S and 18S rRNA gene clone libraries. Eleven different sequences by culture-dependent techniques and seven by both DGGE and clone libraries were obtained. The comparison of three variable regions (V3-V5) of the 16S rRNA gene between the sequences obtained yielded 19 different microbial components.

Polyphasic characterization of Pseudomonas stutzeri CLN100 which simultaneously degrades chloro- and methylaromatics: a new genomovar within the species.

Strain CLN100 was isolated after enrichment on mineral medium with chloronaphthalene as the only carbon and energy source. It was able to use simultaneously and productively chloro- and methyl-derivatives of naphthalene and salicylate through a chromosomally encoded meta pathway. Phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic characterization classified strain CLN100 as a member of the species Pseudomonas stutzeri.

Pseudomonas sp. strain KC represents a new genomovar within Pseudomonas stutzeri.

Pseudomonas sp. strain KC (= ATCC 55595 = DSM 7136) is a denitrifying aquifer isolate that produces and secretes pyridine-2,6-bis(thiocarboxylate) (PDTC), a chelating agent that fortuitously transforms carbon tetrachloride without producing chloroform. Although KC has been used successfully for full-scale bioremediation of carbon tetrachloride, its taxonomy has proven difficult to resolve, as it retains properties of both Pseudomonas stutzeri and Pseudomonas putida.

Clonal population structure of Pseudomonas stutzeri, a species with exceptional genetic diversity.

Genetic diversity and genetic relationships among 42 Pseudomonas stutzeri strains belonging to several genomovars and isolated from different sources were investigated in an examination of 20 metabolic enzymes by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis analysis. Forty-two distinct allele profiles were identified, indicating that all multilocus genotypes were represented by a single strain. All 20 loci were exceptionally polymorphic, with an average of 15.

Utility of internally transcribed 16S-23S rDNA spacer regions for the definition of Pseudomonas stutzeri genomovars and other Pseudomonas species.

Bacteria identified and classified as Pseudomonas stutzeri, on the basis of traditional criteria, are recognized to be markedly heterogeneous, such that a systematic phenotypic characterization has not been correlated with genotypic groupings (i.e. genomovars) based upon DNA-DNA similarities.