Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are toxic and recalcitrant pollutants, with an urgent need for bioremediation. Systematic biodegradation studies show that surfactant-mediated bioremediation is still poorly understood. Here, we investigated a comprehensive cellular response pattern of the PAH degrading strain B. subtilis ZL09–26 to (non-)green surfactants at the cellular and proteomic levels. Eight characteristic cellular factor investigations and detailed quantitative proteomics analyses were performed to understand the highly enhanced phenanthrene (PHE) degradation efficiency (2.8- to 3-fold improvement) of ZL09–26 by humic acid (HA) or Tween80. The commonly upregulated pathway and proteins (Arginine generation, LacI-family transcriptional regulator, and Lactate dehydrogenase) and various metabolic pathways (such as phenanthrene degradation upstream pathway and central carbon metabolism) jointly govern the change of cellular behaviors and improvement of PHE transport, emulsification, and degradation in a network manner. The obtained molecular knowledge empowers engineers to expand the application of surfactants in the biodegradation of PAHs and other pollutants.

多环芳烃 (PAHs) 是一种有毒且顽固的污染物，迫切需要生物修复。系统的生物降解研究表明，表面活性剂介导的生物修复仍然知之甚少。在这里，我们研究了 PAH 降解菌株B. subtilis的综合细胞反应模式ZL09-26 到（非）绿色表面活性剂在细胞和蛋白质组水平上。进行了八项特征细胞因子研究和详细的定量蛋白质组学分析，以了解腐殖酸 (HA) 或吐温 80 对 ZL09-26 的高度增强的菲 (PHE) 降解效率（提高 2.8 至 3 倍）。普遍上调的通路和蛋白质（精氨酸生成、LacI 家族转录调节因子和乳酸脱氢酶）和各种代谢通路（如菲降解上游通路和中心碳代谢）共同控制细胞行为的变化和 PHE 转运、乳化的改善，并以网络方式退化。获得的分子知识使工程师能够扩大表面活性剂在多环芳烃和其他污染物的生物降解中的应用。