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Updated: May 7, 2026

Isolation, Propagation, and Identification of Bacterial Species with Hydrocarbon Metabolizing Properties from Aquatic Habitats
Published on: December 7, 2021
In silico and experimental methods revealed highly diverse bacteria with quorum sensing and aromatics biodegradation
Yili Huang1, Yanhua Zeng, Zhiliang Yu
1Department of Environmental Science, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Abstract:
Phylogenetic overlaps between aromatics-degrading bacteria and acyl-homoserine-lactone (AHL) or autoinducer (AI) based quorum-sensing (QS) bacteria were evident in literatures; however, the diversity of bacteria with both activities had never been finely described. In-silico searching in NCBI genome database revealed that more than 11% of investigated population harbored both aromatic ring-hydroxylating-dioxygenase (RHD) gene and AHL/AI-synthetase gene. These bacteria were distributed in 10 orders, 15 families, 42 genus and 78 species. Horizontal transfers of both genes were common among them. Using enrichment and culture dependent method, 6 Sphingomonadales and 4 Rhizobiales with phenanthrene- or pyrene-degrading ability and AHL-production were isolated from marine, wetland and soil samples. Thin-layer-chromatography and gas-chromatography-mass-spectrum revealed that these Sphingomonads produced various AHL molecules. This is the first report of highly diverse bacteria that harbored both aromatics-degrading and QS systems. QS regulation may have broad impacts on aromatics biodegradation, and would be a new angle for developing bioremediation technology.
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