QUANTIFICATION, IDENTIFICATION AND BIOPROSPECTING OF BACTERIA AND CYANOBACTERIA ISOLATED FROM MANGROVE SEDIMENTS OF PORT AREAS AND EVALUATON OF BACTERIAL ABILITY OF HYDROCARBON BIODEGRADATION

• Grant number: 15/21020-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2016
• End date: January 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Ana Julia Fernandes
• Grantee: Ana Julia Fernandes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB-CLP). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Cristiane Angélica Ottoni ; Marcos Antonio de Oliveira ; Roberto Fioravanti Carelli Fontes

Abstract

The coastal zone is subject to numerous pressures and impacts caused by port and oil activities, which generate impacts launching in estuaries and mangroves various pollutants, including hydrocarbons and their derivatives. The sediment of marine environment is the most affected by oil, since petroleum products have higher density than the coastal waters and are deposited in the bottom substrates. Some indigenous microorganisms such as bacteria and cyanobacteria are capable of degrading hydrocarbons and therefore their population increases in contaminated areas. Thus, the numerical dominance of certain species of microorganisms in contaminated sediments facilitates the isolation of hydrocarbon degrading microbial species having potential for use in bioremediation products. Nevertheless, it is currently known that only a portion of 1-5% of existing microorganisms in various environments is cultivable and that several components of environmental microbiota are still unknown. It is possible that non-cultivable indigenous microorganisms are great decomposers of pollutants and producers of enzymes and that, products of their metabolism are responsible for stimulating the action of cultivable degrading microorganisms. This project's main objectives are to identify the species of bacteria and cyanobacteria present in impacted estuarine sediments and not impacted, and from the knowledge of microbial diversity and isolation of cultivable, discover the presence of species with biotechnological potential for hydrocarbon biodegradation and production of enzymes and small molecules of commercial interest. (AU)