One step towards bioremediating a heavily polluted river: Metagenomic insights on the function of microbial community

The objective of this study is to understand the functional potential of the microbial community related to bioremediation activity and its relationship with the pollution of each site to enhance the future design of more accurate bioremediation processes. Water samples were collected at four sampling sites along the Apatlaco River (S1-S4), and a whole metagenome shotgun sequencing was performed to know and understand the microbial community involved in bioremediation. Additionally, HMMER was used for searching sequence homologs related to PET and polystyrene biodegradation and metal transformation in Apatlaco River metagenomes. The Apatlaco River is characterized by the presence of a broad spectrum of microorganisms with the metabolic potential to carry out bioremediation activities. Every site along the Apatlaco River has a particular community to perform bioremediation activities. The first site S1 has Thiomonas, Polaromonas, Pedobacter, and Myroides, S2 has Pedobacter, Myroides, Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter, S3, Thiomonas, Myroides, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter and Aeromonas; S4, Thiomonas, Myroides and Pseudomonas, Thauera.\n\nFurthermore, every site is rich in specific enzymes such as S1 has dioxygenase and dehydrogenase, which can degrade Catechol, Biphenyl, Naphthalene, and Phthalate. While, S2 and S3 are rich in dioxygenase and decarboxylating dehydrogenases to degrade Toluene, Fluorobenzoate, Xylene, Phenylpropanoate, and Phenol. S3 also has monooxygenases which degrade Benzene, and all the earlier mentioned enzymes were also found at S4.