Gulf of Mexico Oil-Degrading Consortium

Community ID CommunityMech:000030

Ecological State STABLE

Environment marine environment
ENVO:00002149

A marine bacterial consortium from the Gulf of Mexico designed for bioremediation of oil-contaminated seawater. The consortium consists of four bacteria: Pseudomonas sp., Halopseudomonas aestusnigri GOM5, Paenarthrobacter sp. GOM3, and Alcanivorax sp. Together, they achieve 62% oil removal over 75 days, degrading both n-alkanes and 12 polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including fluorene, dibenzothiophene, phenanthrenes, and pyrene. The consortium exhibits stable population dynamics with distributed metabolic loads across members.

Taxonomy

Taxon	Ontology ID	Functional Roles	Abundance
Pseudomonas sp. GOM	NCBITaxon:306	PRIMARY_DEGRADER	DOMINANT
doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.962071 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "The final consortium consists of four bacteria isolated from the Gulf of Mexico, from four genera: Pseudomonas, Halopseudomonas, Paenarthrobacter , and Alcanivorax"
Halopseudomonas aestusnigri GOM5	NCBITaxon:857252	PRIMARY_DEGRADER	DOMINANT
doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.962071 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "The final consortium consists of four bacteria isolated from the Gulf of Mexico, from four genera: Pseudomonas, Halopseudomonas, Paenarthrobacter , and Alcanivorax"
Paenarthrobacter sp. GOM3	NCBITaxon:2782567	PRIMARY_DEGRADER	DOMINANT
doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.962071 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "The final consortium consists of four bacteria isolated from the Gulf of Mexico, from four genera: Pseudomonas, Halopseudomonas, Paenarthrobacter , and Alcanivorax"
Alcanivorax sp. GOM	NCBITaxon:1872427	PRIMARY_DEGRADER	DOMINANT
doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.962071 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "The final consortium consists of four bacteria isolated from the Gulf of Mexico, from four genera: Pseudomonas, Halopseudomonas, Paenarthrobacter , and Alcanivorax"

Ecological Interactions

Taxon

Cross-feeding

Mutualism

Syntrophy

Competition

Commensalism

Niche partitioning

Colonization facilitation

Strain competition

Predation

Aliphatic Hydrocarbon Degradation

SYNTROPHY

Source Taxon: Alcanivorax sp. GOM

Target Taxon: Halopseudomonas aestusnigri GOM5

Metabolites: alkane (CHEBI:18310), dodecane (CHEBI:16968)

Biological Processes:

alkane catabolic process (GO:0043448)

Downstream Effects:

→ Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon Degradation

Evidence

doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.962071 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"We also measured biodegradation levels by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) observing 12 polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) degradation analyzed and n -alkanes degradation with a preference for specific chain length"

Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon Degradation

SYNTROPHY

Source Taxon: Pseudomonas sp. GOM

Target Taxon: Paenarthrobacter sp. GOM3

Metabolites: fluorene (CHEBI:33083), dibenzothiophene (CHEBI:4551), phenanthrene (CHEBI:39310), pyrene (CHEBI:39106)

Biological Processes:

aromatic compound catabolic process (GO:0019439)

Evidence

doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.962071 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"We also measured biodegradation levels by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) observing 12 polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) degradation analyzed and n -alkanes degradation with a preference for specific chain length"

Environmental Factors

Factor	Value	Unit
Oil removal efficiency	62% (consortium) vs 39% (individual)	N/A
Population dynamics	stable	N/A
Marine origin	Gulf of Mexico	N/A
Bioremediation application	oil spill cleanup	N/A