Genomic Features, Functional Complementarity, and the Potential for Constructing Synthetic Consortia from Dominant Petroleum-Degrading Bacteria

Microbial remediation serves as a cost-effective and eco-friendly tactic for petroleum-contaminated sites. In real-world practices, petroleum-degrading microbial consortia display prominent superiority over single strains. To tap into their intrinsic synergistic degradation capacity, it is essential to dissect microbial commonalities, individual traits and functional complementarity for complicated bioremediation scenarios. This study applied bibliometric approaches to collect 15 well-documented representative petroleum-hydrocarbon-degrading strains, and summarized research progress via comparative genomic analysis. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Rhodococcus erythropolis are the most frequently reported degraders with remarkable petroleum removal performance. Moreover, co-occurrence network analysis identifies Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Acinetobacter and Rhodococcus as core co-existing genera sustaining natural pollutant-degrading communities. Genomic evidence indicates these strains harbour abundant functional elements encoding diverse oxygenases, alcohol dehydrogenases, cytochrome P450 monooxygenases and key LuxR-, AraC- and GntR-family regulatory factors. P. aeruginosa has the highest copy numbers of catabolic enzyme genes, consistent with its outstanding degradation phenotype. Degraders from different genera exhibit high genetic heterogeneity, with accessory gene clusters significantly enriched in hydrocarbon degradation pathways. Six strains including P. aeruginosa and R. erythropolis assemble a complete gene cascade targeting recalcitrant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. This work provides reliable genomic support for rational strain screening and synthetic-consortium optimization, facilitating knowledge-driven strategies for efficient petroleum bioremediation.