Characterization of the microbial community diversity and composition of the coast of Lebanon: Potential for petroleum oil biodegradation

Abstract

In this study, the shoreline of Lebanon, which extends over 225 km along the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea, was characterized for its sediment microbial community diversity and composition using 16S rRNA gene sequencing with Illumina MiSeq technology. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis showed no clear grouping among nearby sampled sites along the shoreline. Insignificant diversion between the wet and dry season microbial communities was observed along the coast at each sampling site. A high variation at the genus level was observed, with several novel genera identified at high relative abundance in certain locations, such as JTB255 marine benthic groups OTU_4 (5.4%) and OTU_60 (3.2%), and BD7-8 marine group OTU_5 (2.9%).