Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Isolation, Propagation, and Identification of Bacterial Species with Hydrocarbon Metabolizing Properties from Aquatic Habitats
Published on: December 7, 2021
Isolation of alkane-degrading bacteria from deep-sea Mediterranean sediments
Y Tapilatu1, M Acquaviva, C Guigue
1Laboratoire de Microbiologie Géochimie et Ecologie Marines, CNRS/INSU, UMR 6117, Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille, Université de la Méditerranée, Campus de Luminy, Case 901, Marseille Cedex 9, France.
Aims:
To isolate and identify alkane-degrading bacteria from deep-sea superficial sediments sampled at a north-western Mediterranean station.
Methods And Results:
Sediments from the water/sediment interface at a 2400 m depth were sampled with a multicorer at the ANTARES site off the French Mediterranean coast and were promptly enriched with Maya crude oil as the sole source of carbon and energy. Alkane-degrading bacteria belonging to the genera Alcanivorax, Pseudomonas, Marinobacter, Rhodococcus and Clavibacter-like were isolated, indicating that the same groups were potentially involved in hydrocarbon biodegradation in deep sea as in coastal waters.
Conclusions:
These results confirm that members of Alcanivorax are important obligate alkane degraders in deep-sea environments and coexist with other degrading bacteria inhabiting the deep-subsurface sediment of the Mediterranean.
Significance And Impact Of The Study:
The results suggest that the isolates obtained have potential applications in bioremediation strategies in deep-sea environments and highlight the need to identify specific piezophilic hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria (HCB) from these environments.
Related Concept Videos
Microbial Bioremediation of Hydrocarbons
Deep Sea Microbial Ecology
Green Algae
Marine Microbial Ecology
Diversity of Archaea III
Overview of Archaea

