Table 3 Laboratory assessment of the biodegradation ability of strain Wilcox.

Hydrocarbon class	Hydrocarbons tested as substrate ^a	Genome predicted degradation	Experimental validation of biodegradation
MAH	Benzene (20–40 µmol/bottle)	+	+
	Toluene (20–40 µmol/bottle)	+	+
	Ethylbenzene (20 -30 µmol/bottle)	+	+
	Xylenes (20–30 µmol/bottle)	+	+
	BTEX (combined)	+	+
	Phenol (2 mM)	+	+
	Benzoate (1–2 mM)	+	+
	Phenylacetate (2 mM)	+	+
Biphenyl	Biphenyl (2 mM)	+	+
PAH	Naphthalene (1–2 mM)	−	−
	Phenanthrene (1–2 mM)	−	−
n-Alkanes	Methane (100 uM)	−	−
	Hexane (5 mM)	−	−
	Decane (2 mM)	+	+
	Hexadecane (5 mM)	+	+
	Eicosane (2 mM)	− ^b	−
	Dotriacontane (2 mM)	− ^b	−

Strain Wilcox grown in mineral salts medium supplemented with 2.5 M NaCl and amended with a hydrocarbon as the sole source of carbon and energy were used to study the degradation potential of strain Wilcox. Cultures were inoculated with approximately 5 × 10⁵ or 1.2 × 10⁶ CFU of strain Wilcox.
^aBTEX compounds and methane were determined using a gas chromatograph^40,41. Degradation activities on biphenyl, phenol, phenylacetate, n-hexane, n-decane, n-hexadecane, n-eicosane, and n-dotriacontane were determined as CFU. Benzoate degradation was monitored using absorption at 223 λ using a spectrometer.
^bWe did not identify homologs of almA or ladA genes known to act on longer-chain alkanes. ( +) Degraded as the sole carbon and energy source. ( −) No growth or degradation. The data points are averages of triplicate bottles.

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