The genus Sphingopyxis: Systematics, ecology, and bioremediation potential - A review

The genus Sphingopyxis was first reported in the year 2001. Phylogenetically, Sphingopyxis is well delineated from other genera Sphingobium, Sphingomonas and Novosphingobium of sphingomonads group, family Sphingomonadaceae of Proteobacteria. To date (at the time of writing), the genus Sphingopyxis comprises of twenty validly published species available in List of Prokaryotic Names with Standing in Nomenclature. Sphingopyxis spp. have been isolated from diverse niches including, agricultural soil, marine and fresh water, caves, activated sludge, thermal spring, oil and pesticide contaminated soil, and heavy metal contaminated sites. Sphingopyxis species have drawn considerable attention not only for their ability to survive under extreme environments, but also for their potential to degrade number of xenobiotics and other environmental contaminants that impose serious threat to human health. At present, genome sequence of both cultivable and non-cultivable strains (metagenome assembled genome) are available in the public databases (NCBI) and genome wide studies confirms the presence of mobile genetic elements and plethora of degradation genes and pathways making them a potential candidate for bioremediation. Beside genome wide predictions there are number of experimental evidences confirm the degradation potential of bacteria belonging to genus Sphingopyxis and also the production of different secondary metabolites that help them interact and survive in their ecological niches. This review provides detailed information on ecology, general characteristic and the significant implications of Sphingopyxis species in environmental management along with the bio-synthetic potential.