Abstract
By means of the enrichment culture technique, a mixed population of microorganisms was obtained which catalyzed the dispersion of crude oil in supplemented sea water. From this enrichment culture, eight pure cultures were isolated and studied. Only one of the isolates (RAG-1) brought about a significant dispersion of crude oil. RAG-1 has been tentatively characterized as a member of the genus Arthrobacter. The other seven isolates gave rise to colonies on supplemented oil agar, but were neither able to disperse oil nor to stimulate the dispersion catalyzed by RAG-1. The dispersion of crude oil by either RAG-1 or the enrichment culture was absolutely dependent on exogenous sources of nitrogen and phosphorous and completely inhibited by 10−2m azide. The increase in cell number of RAG-1 was directly proportional to the concentration of crude oil added to the medium over the range 0.05 to 1.0 mg/ml. Within this linear region, 1.0 mg of crude oil yielded 9 × 107 cells and approximately 65% of the oil was converted into a nonbenzene extractable form. Accompanying the emulsification was a decrease in the pH from 7.6 to 5.0. Acidic conditions, however, were neither necessary nor sufficient for oil dispersion. When sea water was supplemented with 0.029 mm K2HPO4 and 3.8 mm (NH4)2SO4 and inoculated with RAG-1, oil dispersion occurred within 1 day. This dispersion could also be brought about by the supernatant following separation of the cells from the medium. Similarly, the supernatant obtained following growth of RAG-1 on hexadecane was capable of emulsifying crude oil in 60 min.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- CLAUS D., WALKER N. THE DECOMPOSITION OF TOLUENE BY SOIL BACTERIA. J Gen Microbiol. 1964 Jul;36:107–122. doi: 10.1099/00221287-36-1-107. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gibson D. T. Microbial degradation of aromatic compounds. Science. 1967 Sep 13;161(3846):1093–1097. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Le Petit J., Barthelemy M. H. Les hydrocarbures en mer: le problème de l'épuration des zones littorales par les microorganismes. Ann Inst Pasteur (Paris) 1968 Feb;114(2):149–158. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stone R. W., Fenske M. R., White A. G. Bacteria Attacking Petroleum and Oil Fractions. J Bacteriol. 1942 Aug;44(2):169–178. doi: 10.1128/jb.44.2.169-178.1942. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- VOROSHILOVA A. A., DIANOVA E. V. O bakterial'nom okislenii nefti i ee migratsii v prirodnykh vodoemakh. Mikrobiologiia. 1950 May-Jun;19(3):203–210. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]