[Isolation, charcaterization of an anthracene degrading bacterium Martelella sp. AD-3 and cloning of dioxygenase gene].

Anthracene, among the 16 US EPA polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), is a typical low molecular weight environmental contaminant, which gains concern on its biodegradation under hypersaline condition. In this study, an anthracene-degrading bacterial strain was isolated from highly saline petroleum-contaminated soil. Based on its physiological, biochemical characteristics and 16S rDNA sequence analysis, the bacteria was preliminary identified and named as Martelella sp. AD-3. The strain was able to utilize anthracene as sole carbon source for growth and the degradation occurred under broad salinities (0.1% to 10%) and varying pHs (6.0 to 10.0). The optimized degradation conditions were initial concentration 25 mg x L(-1), culture temperature 30 degrees C, pH 9.0 and salinity 3%. And 94.6% of anthracene was degraded by strain AD-3 under the optimal conditions within 6 days. Degenerate primers design was performed with a reported dioxygenase alpha subunit homologous gene. A length of 307 bp fragment of the partial dioxygenase gene sequences (GenBank accession: JF823991.1) was amplified by nested PCR. The clones amino acid sequence from strain AD-3 showed 95% identity to that of the partial naphthalene dioxygenase large-subunit from Marinobacter sp. NCE312 (AF295033). The results lay a foundation for the further study of molecular mechanism involved in the PAHs biodegradation by strain AD-3.