TABLE 1.

PAH-degrading isolates obtained from contaminated estuarine sediment and salt marsh plant rhizosphere and comparison of bacterial identification using FAME and partial 16S rRNA gene sequences of several of the strains

Isolatea	Source	PAHb	FAME analysisc		Partial 16S rRNA gene sequenced
			Best match	SI	Best match	% Similarity
DS-N1	D. spicata	N	Brevibacillus brevis	0.45	P. validus	99.6
DS-N2	D. spicata	N	P. validuse	0.92	P. validus	96.7
DS-N3	D. spicata	N	P. validus	0.81	P. validus	97.9
JG-N1	J. gerardi	N	P. validus	0.80	NDf
JG-N2	J. gerardi	N	P. validus	0.81	P. validus	96.0
JG-N3	J. gerardi	N	P. validus	0.87	ND
SA-N1	S. airoides	N	Paenibacillus sp.	Poor	P. validus	96.0
Salt-N1	S. alterniflora	N	Pseudomonas fluorescens	0.59	ND
Salt-N2	S. alterniflora	N	P. putida	0.80	ND
PR-N1	S. alterniflora	N	Paenibacillus sp.	Poor	P. validus	97.3
PR-N2	S. alterniflora	N	Paenibacillus sp.	Poor	ND
PR-N3	S. alterniflora	N	P. validus	0.87	ND
PR-N4	S. alterniflora	N	P. validus	0.86	P. validus	98.0
PR-N5	S. alterniflora	N	Paenibacillus sp.	Poor	P. validus	96.9
PR-N6	S. alterniflora	N	Pseudomonas chlororaphis	0.85	ND
PR-N7	S. alterniflora	N	P. stutzeri	0.88	P. stutzeri	99.0
PR-N8	S. alterniflora	N	P. putida	0.87	ND
PR-N9	S. alterniflora	N	P. putida	0.87	P. putida	99.0
PR-N10	S. alterniflora	N	P. putida	0.82	P. putida	98.0
PR-N11	S. alterniflora	N	Paenibacillus sp.	Poor	ND
PR-N12	S. alterniflora	N	Paenibacillus sp.	Poor	ND
PR-N13	S. alterniflora	N	P. validus	0.81	P. validus	98.2
PR-N14	S. alterniflora	N	N. asteroides	0.77	Rhodococcus ruber	97.1
PR-N15	S. alterniflora	N	N. brasiliensis	0.21	Tsukamurella wratislaviensis	99.8
PR-N16	S. alterniflora	N	Paenibacillus sp.	Poor	P. validus	97.3
PR-N17	S. alterniflora	N	N. asteroides	0.57	ND
PR-N18	S. alterniflora	N	Nocardia sp.	0.14	ND
PR-N19	S. alterniflora	N	P. validus	0.93	P. validus	97.3
PR-N20	S. alterniflora	N	P. validus	0.84	P. validus	98.0
PR-N21	S. alterniflora	N	P. validus	0.75	P. validus	98.9
PR-N22	S. alterniflora	N	P. validus	0.81	P. validus	98.5
PR-P1	S. alterniflora	P	P. validus	0.85	P. validus	98.5
PR-P2	S. alterniflora	P	P. validus	0.90	ND
PR-P3	S. alterniflora	P	A. oxydans	0.46	A. oxydans	95.4
PR-P6	S. alterniflora	P	P. validus	0.88	ND
PR-P9	S. alterniflora	P	P. validus	0.91	P. validus	99.5
PR-P10	S. alterniflora	P	P. validus	0.91	P. validus	99.8
PR-P11	S. alterniflora	P	P. validus	0.70	P. validus	99.5
PR-P12	S. alterniflora	P	F. resinovorum	0.79	S. subarctica	99.3
PR-P13	S. alterniflora	P	P. validus	0.91	P. validus	97.9
PR-B1	S. alterniflora	B	P. validus	0.87	ND
PR-B2	S. alterniflora	B	B. brevis	0.34	P. validus	98.4
PS-N1	Sediment	N	P. pabuli	0.26	P. validus	97.1
PS-N2	Sediment	N	P. fluorescens	0.47	ND
PS-N3	Sediment	N	N. asteroides	0.71	ND
PS-N4	Sediment	N	P. stutzeri	0.89	ND
PS-N5	Sediment	N	P. stutzeri	0.86	ND
PS-N6	Sediment	N	P. validus	0.33	P. validus	96.4
PS-P1	Sediment	P	Nocardioform	NDg	ND
PS-P2a	Sediment	P	Alcaligenes xylosoxidans	0.65	Alcaligenes faecalis	98.4
PS-P2b	Sediment	P	A. xylosoxidans	0.56	ND

^aDS, JG, SA, and salt isolates obtained from plants collected from Lewes, Del. PR and PS designates isolates obtained at Piles Creek, N.J. 

^bPAH carbon source in enrichment culture. N, naphthalene; P, phenanthrene; and B, biphenyl. 

^cFAME identification was performed using the aerobic (TSBA) library version 3.9 of the Microbial Identification System (MIDI, Inc.). SI values below 0.2 are listed as poor, and the match is given only to the genus. 

^d16S rRNA genes were amplified by PCR using universal primers. The PCR products were partially sequenced (∼500 bp, ranging from 292 to 1,488 bp) and were compared to the Ribosomal Database Project database to obtain the most closely matched species. 

^eP. validus listed as the invalid synonym P. gordonae in MIDI library. 

^fND, not determined. 

^gIdentification based on presence of fatty acid 10-methyl 18:0 (TSBA).