Genome-resolved transcriptomics reveals novel PCE-dehalogenating bacteria from Aarhus Bay sediments

Abstract

Pristine marine environment is the major reservoir for naturally produced organohalides, in which reductive dehalogenation underneath plays an important role in the overall cycling of these compounds. Here, we obtain some novel OHRB genomes from Aarhus Bay marine sediments, which are phylogenetically distant to the well-documented OHRB and widely distributed across the bacterial phyla, such as Bacteroidota , Synergistota , and Spirochaetota . Furthermore, transcriptional profiles unravel that these RDase genes are induced differently, and their activity is controlled by diverse regulatory systems. Accordingly, elucidating the reductive dehalogenation of pristine marine environments substantially advances our understanding of the diversity, phylogeny, and regulatory variety of dehalogenating bacteria contributing to the global halogen cycle.