Hexadecane degradation from bacteria strains Alcanivorax and Shewanella

The ability of 2 study strains of bacteria - Alcanivorax xenomutans strain (Bead 18) and Shewanella indica strain (Bead 36) to degrade hexadecane was analyzed using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Each strain was inoculated into ONR7a minimal medium supplemented with 50 mM hexadecane. Incubations were performed in the dark to prevent photo-oxidation of hexadecane. At 48 hours and 120 hours, they were harvested for GC-MS analysis of hexadecane degradation. The negative control consisted of sterile ONR7a with 50 mM hexadecane, with no cell culture. For sample preparation, the methods described in (Marietou et al. 2018, Frontiers in Microbiology, 9:808) were used. An Agilent 5977B Gas Chromatograph-Mass Selective Detector (GC-MSD) instrument equipped with an Agilent DB-5MS UI column was used.