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. 1997 Sep;63(9):3719–3723. doi: 10.1128/aem.63.9.3719-3723.1997

Biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons by psychrotrophic Pseudomonas strains possessing both alkane (alk) and naphthalene (nah) catabolic pathways.

L G Whyte 1, L Bourbonniére 1, C W Greer 1
PMCID: PMC168679  PMID: 9293024

Abstract

Three hydrocarbon-degrading psychrotrophic bacteria were isolated from petroleum-contaminated Arctic soils and characterized. Two of the strains, identified as Pseudomonas spp., degraded C5 to C12 n-alkanes, toluene, and naphthalene at both 5 and 25 degrees C and possessed both the alk catabolic pathway for alkane biodegradation and the nah catabolic pathway for polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon biodegradation. One of these strains contained both a plasmid slightly smaller than the P. oleovorans OCT plasmid, which hybridized to an alkB gene probe, and a NAH plasmid similar to NAH7, demonstrating that both catabolic pathways, located on separate plasmids, can naturally coexist in the same bacterium.

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Selected References

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