Maximization of the petroleum biodegradation using a synthetic bacterial consortium based on minimal value algorithm

Petroleum pollution is a global concern because it causes serious environmental and human health problems. Microbial communities play important roles in petroleum biodegradation. In this study, a synthetic bacterial consortium for efficiently degrading ability was constructed on the basis of a minimal value algorithm running on MATLAB. Functional microbial diversity-based screening of three petroleum-degrading strains, Achromobacter sp. P3, Sphingobium sp. P10 and Rhizobium sp. P14, enabled the initial synthesis of the bacterial consortium in combination with a previously used bacterial consortium PDM. When 27.0% of P3, 21.0% of P10, 28.0% of P14 and 24.0% of consortium PDM were inoculated to a petroleum medium, 78.9% of petroleum was degraded under the optimal conditions. The synthetic bacterial consortium has 34.8% higher petroleum degradation than the original bacterial community PDM. Total 40% of the petroleum in the contaminated soil was removed after 20 days of soil bioremediation using the reconstructed consortium. This is an attempt to remediate petroleum-contaminated pollution with synthetic biology via reconstructing a synthetic bacterial community, providing a new idea for the remediation of other pollution problems.