[Hydrocarbon-Oxidizing potential and the genes for n-alkane biodegradation in a new acidophilic mycobacterial association from sulfur blocks].

Capacity of AG(S10), a new aerobic acidophilic (growing within the pH range from 1.3 to 4.5 with the optimum at 2.0-2.5) bacterial association from sulfur blocks of the Astrakhan gas-processing complex (AGC), for oxidation of hydrocarbons of various chemical structure was investigated. A broad spectrum of normal (C10-C21) and iso-alkanes, toluene, naphthalene, andphenanthrene, as well as isoprenoids resistant to microbial degradation, pristane and phytane (components of paraffin oil), and 2,2,4,4,6,8,8,-heptamethylnonane, a branched hydrocarbon, were biodegraded under acidic conditions. Microbiological investigation revealed the dominance of mycobacteria in the AGS10 association, which was confirmed by analysis of the 16S rRNA gene clone library. In the phylogenetic tree, the 16S rRNA sequences formed a branch within the cluster of slow-growing mycobacteria, with 98% homology to the closest species Mycobacterium florentinum. Genomic DNA of AG(S10) culture grown on C14-C17 n-alkanes at pH 2.5 was found to contain the genes of two hydroxylase families, alkB and Cyp 153, indicating their combined involvement in hydrocarbon biodegradation. The high hydrocarbon-oxidizing potential of the AGS10 bacterial association, indicated that further search for the genes responsible for degradation of various hydrocarbons in acidophilic mycobacteria could be promising.