CHARACTERIZATION AND EXPRESSION OF GENE AND ENVIRONMENTAL STRAINS OF THE GENUS ACINETOBACTER SP. ON OIL BIODEGRADATION
Hydrocarbonets; Acinetobacter baumannii, Genic Expression, Degradation Genes.
Pollution from oil can have significant and long-lasting effects on the environment. Bioremediation can be an alternative to this problem. Several studies report the biotechnological potential for bioremediation by environmental Acinetobacter baumannii. However, it is still necessary to expand the understanding of the genetic mechanisms of this species to maximize its biotechnological potential. Therefore, this work aims to characterize strains of Acinetobacter baumannii oleumficedula, identify genes related to the biodegradation of hydrocarbons, as well as their presence in degradation pathways and analyze the expression of target genes. To this end, analyzes of biosurfactant production, estimation of hydrocarbon degradation, gene expression analysis and evaluation of the strains' genome were carried out. From these analyses, it was possible to verify the efficiency of all strains in the production of biosurfactant, the strains presented an estimate of hydrocarbon degradation that varied from 7.94 to 69.82%. Approximately 81 different genes associated with bioremediation were identified in 16 distinct metabolic pathways. The expression of 12 genes was observed, all of which were upregulated. By observing the gnomic context, the genetic similarity of the strains was verified. However, even with genetic similarities, the strains show significant phenotypic differences, which can be attributed to the presence of a master regulator or regulon. Finally, it can be inferred that all strains are promising for application in hydrocarbon degradation.