Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pollution is widespread throughout marine environments and significantly affects native flora and fauna. Investigating microbes responsible for degrading PAHs in these environments provides a greater understanding of natural attenuation in these systems. In addition, the use of culture-based approaches to inform bioinformatic and omics-based approaches is useful in identifying novel mechanisms of PAH degradation that elude genetic biomarker-based investigations. Furthermore, culture-based approaches allow for the study of PAH co-metabolism, which increasingly appears to be a prominent mechanism for PAH degradation in marine microbes.
Jillian L Walton, Alison Buchan. Evidence for novel polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degradation pathways in culturable marine isolates. Microbiology spectrum. 2024 Jan 11;12(1):e0340923
PMID: 38084970
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