Maldonado Hernández, Yaritza

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Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons degrading bacteria in southern coastal sediments of Puerto Rico
(2010) Maldonado Hernández, Yaritza; Zaidi, Baqar R.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Alston, Dallas E.; Montalvo, Rafael; Aponte, Nilda E.; Department of Marine Sciences; Siritunga, Dimuth
Most probable number technique was used for enumeration of heterotrophic bacteria. For enumeration of PAHs, the degrading bacteria overlayer technique was used. Higher numbers of heterotrophic bacteria were observed for all sampling sites during June and November. During the rainy season, higher numbers of naphthalene-degrading bacteria (1.6 x 103 CFU/g) were found in Guayanilla Bay sediments. Possible explanations may be the input of nutrients through the river effluents and mixing of bottom sediments. However, during the dry season, lower number of naphthalene but higher numbers of phenanthrene-degrading bacteria (8.8 x 103 CFU/g) were observed in Guayanilla Bay sediments. That may be due to the absence of the growth factors during the dry season that are necessary for growth of naphthalene-degrading bacteria. Low numbers in hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria were observed in Guánica samples during all sampling periods. Bacterial isolates were identified by 16S rDNA as species from the genera: Alteromonas, Microbulbifer, and Vibrio.