文摘
An aerobic, thermophilic, halotolerant, Gram-positive and sporulated bacterium, designated strain VP3, was isolated from a geothermal oil field, located in Sfax, Tunisia, after enrichment on vanillic acid. The temperature range for growth was 37-65聽掳C, with optimal growth occurring at 55聽掳C. The NaCl concentration range for growth was 0-80聽g聽l鈭?, with an optimum at 10聽g聽l鈭? NaCl. Strain VP3 was able to degrade completely 5聽mM vanillic acid after 9聽h of incubation, at 55聽掳C and in the presence of 30聽g聽l鈭? NaCl. Strain VP3 was also found to degrade, under saline and thermophilic conditions, a wide range of other aromatic compounds, including benzoic, p-hydroxybenzoic, protocatechuic, p-hydroxyphenylacetic, cinnamic, p-coumaric, caffeic and ferulic acids, phenol and m-cresol. In addition, the bacterium was grown on crude oil and diesel as sole carbon and energy sources. Phenotypic characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of isolate VP3 revealed that it was very closely related to Aeribacillus pallidus, with sequence similarity of 99%.
