EVALUATION OF BIOSURFACTANTS PRODUCTION BY BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM ZOANTHID PALYTHOA CARIBAEORUM

Aim: The present work aimed to verify the capacity of biosurfactant production by bacteria isolated from the tissue of the zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum from coral reefs of Carapibus (Paraiba, Brazil) through different bioprospecting tests. Methods: In this study 22 isolates of marine bacteria belonged to the genera of Vibrio, Alteromonas, Marinobacter, Staphylococcus and Bacillus, from tissue of P. caribaeorum were screened for their capacity to produce biosurfactants using the emulsification and dispersion of diesel oil tests, and hemolytic activity test. Furthermore, the complete sequences of proteins involved in metabolism of biosurfactants produced by bacteria belonged to genera studied, available at public databases, were selected and submitted to phylogenetic analysis. Results: The ability of emulsification of diesel oil was not so common (8% of isolates) among bacteria studied, however, the dispersion of diesel oil and hemolytic activity was observed in majority of isolates, 95% and 59%, respectively. The data showed that several isolates of Vibrio spp., Bacillus spp. and Altermonas spp. showed high capacity to disperse diesel oil, and V. alginolyticus PS41 was the most promising isolate for the production of biosurfactants, since was positive and outstanding in all tests used. In silico analysis showed conserved residues of negative charged and aromatic amino acids at different proteins involved in biosurfactants metabolism among studied genera of bacteria. Conclusion: Present work showed that several isolates of marine bacteria associated with tissue of P. caribaeorum showed the promissory capacity to produce biosurfactants, that might be used in the bioremediation of marine environments contaminated with petroleum.