Genetic diversity of oil-degrading bacterial community in salt marsh soil

Diversity of genes degrading polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was investigated in salt marsh soils collected from sites exposed to variable oiling levels in northern Barataria Bay, Louisiana, through cloning and sequencing. The alpha subunit of the PAH-ring hydroxylating dioxygenases (PAH-RHDα) was involved in the initial step of the aerobic metabolism of PAH Gram positive (GP) and Gram negative (GN) bacteria. This study provides new information on the diversity of bacteria capable of degrading PAHs in salt marshes impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The data are individual gene sequences obtained from the samples by cloning and sequencing. Multiple genes were investigated for each sample. The sequences are available through NCBI under the accession numbers provided in the Excel file.