Isolation and characterization of a novel hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium Achromobacter sp. HZ01 from the crude oil-contaminated seawater at the Daya Bay, southern China.

Microorganisms play an important role in the biodegradation of petroleum contaminants, which have attracted great concern due to their persistent toxicity and difficult biodegradation. In this paper, a novel hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium HZ01 was isolated from the crude oil-contaminated seawater at the Daya Bay, South China Sea, and identified as Achromobacter sp. Under the conditions of pH 7.0, NaCl 3% (w/v), temperature 28 °C and rotary speed 150 rpm, its degradability of the total n-alkanes reached up to 96.6% after 10 days of incubation for the evaporated diesel oil. Furthermore, Achromobacter sp. HZ01 could effectively utilize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as its sole carbon source, and could remove anthracene, phenanthrene and pyrence about 29.8%, 50.6% and 38.4% respectively after 30 days of incubation. Therefore, Achromobacter sp. HZ01 may employed as an excellent degrader to develop one cost-effective and eco-friendly method for the bioremediation of marine environments polluted by crude oil.