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Article

Extra-Heavy Crude Oil Degradation by Alternaria sp. Isolated from Deep-Sea Sediments of the Gulf of Mexico

by
Lucia Romero-Hernández
1,
Patricia Velez
2,
Itandehui Betanzo-Gutiérrez
3,
María Dolores Camacho-López
1,
Rafael Vázquez-Duhalt
3 and
Meritxell Riquelme
1,*
1
Departamento de Microbiología, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Ensenada, Baja California 22860, Mexico
2
Departamento de Botánica, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico
3
Centro de Nanociencias y Nanotecnología (CNyN), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Baja California 22860, Mexico
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(13), 6090; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11136090
Submission received: 20 May 2021 / Revised: 17 June 2021 / Accepted: 23 June 2021 / Published: 30 June 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Discovery and Research on Aquatic Microorganisms)
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Abstract

The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is an important source of oil for the United States and Mexico. There has been growing interest, particularly after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in characterizing the fungal diversity of the GoM and identifying isolates for use in the bioremediation of petroleum in the event of another spill. Most studies have focused on light crude oil bioremediation processes, while heavy crude oil (HCO) and extra-heavy crude oil (EHCO) have been largely ignored. In this work, we evaluated the ability of fungal isolates obtained from deep-sea sediments of the Mexican economic exclusive zone (EEZ) of the GoM to degrade HCO (16–20° API) and EHCO (7–10° API). Alternaria sp., Penicillium spp., and Stemphylium sp. grew with HCO as the sole carbon source. Remarkably, Alternaria sp. was the only isolate able to grow with EHCO as the sole carbon source, degrading up to 25.6% of the total EHCO and 91.3% of the aromatic fraction, as demonstrated by gas chromatography analysis of the saturate, aromatic, and polar fractions. These findings proved to be significant, identifying Alternaria sp. as one of the few fungi reported so far capable of degrading untreated EHCO and as a suitable candidate for bioremediation of EHCO in future studies.
Keywords: heavy crude oil; mycodegradation; deep-sea fungi; bioremediation; fungal isolation heavy crude oil; mycodegradation; deep-sea fungi; bioremediation; fungal isolation

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MDPI and ACS Style

Romero-Hernández, L.; Velez, P.; Betanzo-Gutiérrez, I.; Camacho-López, M.D.; Vázquez-Duhalt, R.; Riquelme, M. Extra-Heavy Crude Oil Degradation by Alternaria sp. Isolated from Deep-Sea Sediments of the Gulf of Mexico. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 6090. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11136090

AMA Style

Romero-Hernández L, Velez P, Betanzo-Gutiérrez I, Camacho-López MD, Vázquez-Duhalt R, Riquelme M. Extra-Heavy Crude Oil Degradation by Alternaria sp. Isolated from Deep-Sea Sediments of the Gulf of Mexico. Applied Sciences. 2021; 11(13):6090. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11136090

Chicago/Turabian Style

Romero-Hernández, Lucia, Patricia Velez, Itandehui Betanzo-Gutiérrez, María Dolores Camacho-López, Rafael Vázquez-Duhalt, and Meritxell Riquelme. 2021. "Extra-Heavy Crude Oil Degradation by Alternaria sp. Isolated from Deep-Sea Sediments of the Gulf of Mexico" Applied Sciences 11, no. 13: 6090. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11136090

APA Style

Romero-Hernández, L., Velez, P., Betanzo-Gutiérrez, I., Camacho-López, M. D., Vázquez-Duhalt, R., & Riquelme, M. (2021). Extra-Heavy Crude Oil Degradation by Alternaria sp. Isolated from Deep-Sea Sediments of the Gulf of Mexico. Applied Sciences, 11(13), 6090. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11136090

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