Pseudomonas and Bioremediation

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According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, petroleum supplies 32.5% of global energy use (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions). The global transport of petroleum has resulted in oil spills in marine ecosystems, such as the highly publicized Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico, the Prestige oil spill in Spain, and the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Oil spills are costly and ecologically damaging as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have been linked to cardiac arrhythmia in marine organisms. There is a great need for efficient and ecologically friendly remediation strategies.

Bioremediation is a strategy that uses naturally occurring organisms to break down pollutants, such as petroleum hydrocarbons, into less toxic substances. Species in the bacterial genus Pseudomonas present high potential for hydrocarbon degradation due to their metabolic diversity, their abundance in microbial communities, and their resistance to chemical remediation agents present at contamination sites.

Introduction

Classification

Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Proteobacteria
Class: Gammaproteobacteria
Order: Pseudomonadales
Family: Pseudomonadaceae
Genus: Pseudomonas

Section 1

Figure 2. The metabolic pathways for aromatic compounds in Pseudomonas putida. Enzyme [a], naphthalene dioxygenase, catabolizes the formation of naphthalene cis-1,2dihydrodiol from naphthalene, which then undergoes [e], meta-cleavage. Enzymes involved in other pathways are: [g], benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase; [h], benzaldehyde dehydrogenase. Square brackets indicate wide-substrate specificity enzymes involved in various pathways.

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Legend/credit: Electron micrograph of the Ebola Zaire virus. This was the first photo ever taken of the virus, on 10/13/1976. By Dr. F.A. Murphy, now at U.C. Davis, then at the CDC.
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Section 2

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Section 3

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Further Reading

[Sample link] Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Special Pathogens Branch

References

[Sample reference] Takai, K., Sugai, A., Itoh, T., and Horikoshi, K. "Palaeococcus ferrophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a barophilic, hyperthermophilic archaeon from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 2000. Volume 50. p. 489-500.

Edited by Jessica Cheng, a student of Suzanne Kern in BIOL168L (Microbiology) in The Keck Science Department of the Claremont Colleges Spring 2015.