ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Characterization of a Diesel-Degrading
Rhodococcus qingshengii RHZ01
and Its Genome Analysis
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Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, Ecology Institute of Shandong Academy of Sciences,
Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Ji’nan, 250103, China
Submission date: 2022-05-25
Final revision date: 2022-08-17
Acceptance date: 2022-08-17
Online publication date: 2022-10-24
Publication date: 2022-12-21
Corresponding author
Yujie Huang
Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of
Sciences) , Ecology Institute of Shandong Academy of Sciences,Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2023;32(1):99-112
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ABSTRACT
Bioremediation is a low-cost, eco-friendly technique to reduce and/or eliminate pollutants from
environment. Moreover, effective biological degrader for contaminants removal is important during
bioremediation process. Here, the strain RHZ01, isolated from petroleum-contaminated soil in Shengli
Oilfield, was identified as Rhodococcus qingshengii by the morphology, physiology, biochemistry and
molecular biology. Strain RHZ01 was able to use diesel as the sole carbon source. The optimal initial pH
and temperature for strain RHZ01 growth and diesel degradation were 6-8.5 and 20-30ºC, respectively.
Nutrients (NaNO3, NH4Cl, KNO3 and Urea) could replace NH4NO3. And Mg2+ was required for strain
RHZ01 growth and diesel degradation. To investigate the diesel degrading mechanisms of this strain,
the complete genome was sequenced and annotated. The complete genome consists of one chromosome
with a total length 6,506,318 bp and a G+C content of 62.48%. Five putative alkane monooxygenases
(AlkB) encoding genes were further analyzed, and their protein sequences were characterized and
compared with other published AlkBs in Rhodococcus spp.. The physicochemical features of the five
AlkBs were analyzed, and these monooxygenase proteins are alkaline, unstable and thermostable.
AlkB1, AlkB2 and AlkB3 are hydrophilic protein while the other proteins were hydrophobic. All of
these alkane monooxygenases share several conserved regions, such as HYG-motif and three Hist
boxes. From the results, it is demonstrated that bacterial strain isolated from petroleum-contaminated
could be the potential bioremediation agent for diesel removal.