Protection against diesel oil toxicity by sodium chloride-induced exopolysaccharides in Acinetobacter sp. strain DR1

Acinetobacter sp. strain DR1 is capable of growth on diesel oil. Interestingly, the degradation of diesel oil by the strain DR1 is enhanced in the presence of sodium chloride (NaCl). However, the growth rate of strain DR1 is not affected by the presence of NaCl. Northern blot analysis has also demonstrated that the effect of NaCl on the degradation of diesel oil is not attributable to increased levels of alkane hydroxylase (AlkM-type) gene expression. Rather, we have noted an increase in the exopolysaccharide (EPS) yields of strain DR1 under high NaCl conditions (9-fold). The lag-time of diesel oil biodegradation was significantly shorter in the strain DR1 with exogenous EPS than in the controls, although EPS alone does not support the growth of strain DR1. The recovery of strain DR1 when exposed to diesel oil was accelerated when exogenous EPS was added to the medium. The overproduction of EPS was also noted in the presence of diesel oil and n-hexadecane. The data indicated that EPS overproduction might play a protective role against diesel oil toxicity. Along with the results of the soil microcosm tests, the data presented herein demonstrated that NaCl-induced EPS is associated with a reduction in diesel oil toxicity, and thus increases diesel oil biodegradation in Acinetobacter sp. strain DR1.