Crude Oil Metagenomics for Better Bioremediation of Contaminated Environments

Abstract

Our planet suffers more and more from various pollution problems. The marine environments are always regarded as sewers without end and are then subjected to different types of toxic rich rejects leading to oceans and seas degradation. The marine environment becomes at the same time the witness and the actor of the history of the planet, and its chemical composition witnesses all the complexity of its evolution. Coastal regions are often where we find various pollutants. Seawater (Jaffrennou et al. 2007; Perez-Carrera et al. 2007), marine sediments (Wakeham, 1996), and interstitial water (Perez-Carrera et al., 2007) have shown this pollution. Petroleum hydrocarbons are among the most toxic compounds poured at sea. Known as the most significant pollutant, crude oil can persist for years (Burns & Teal 1979), with dangerous effects on coastal environments and negative effects on both the ecosystem and the marine biodiversity (Clark 1992; Rice et al., 1996). In marine environment, crude oil is subjected to physico-chemical and biological modifications, which enhance hydrocarbons solubility in the water and consequentially cause extensive damage to marine life, natural resources, and human health.