Biomaterial Database

Biodegradation of crude oils. 1989

K Bosecker, and M Teschner, and H Wehner

Petroleum from well sites in the Gifhorn Trough (Lower Saxony, NW-Germany) and the Maracaibo Basin (Venezuela) contained various types of microorganisms capable of degrading crude oils. Genetically related oils were inoculated with the isolated microorganisms and the degradation of the oils was followed by chromatographic techniques. Parameters important for the reactions (pH, supply of oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorus, reaction medium) were monitored and optimized. The degradation of n-alkanes was followed closely. Microorganisms active in degradation (yeast, bacteria) easily survived a period of inactivity due to missing nutrients and were reactivated within hours to degrade newly added crude oil. Under substrate-limiting conditions selectivity of degradation was found, destroying medium-chain n-alkanes (C20, C21) at a faster rate than long-chain n-alkanes (C30, C31). During degradation the physical parameters of the crude oils (e.g. density, viscosity, average molecular weight) were altered and shifted into the direction of heavy oil. In vitro degraded oil is very similar to oil degraded in nature. Aromatic hydrocarbons and biomarker molecules (steranes and triterpanes) were not degraded under the conditions used. Pyrolysis-GC analysis of asphaltenes revealed no significant changes in the composition of pyrolyzates during biodegradation. There is sufficient evidence that heavy oils - besides some other effects - are generated by the in situ-biodegradation of conventional oils.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009584	Nitrogen	An element with the atomic symbol N, atomic number 7, and atomic weight [14.00643; 14.00728]. Nitrogen exists as a diatomic gas and makes up about 78% of the earth's atmosphere by volume. It is a constituent of proteins and nucleic acids and found in all living cells.
D010100	Oxygen	An element with atomic symbol O, atomic number 8, and atomic weight [15.99903; 15.99977]. It is the most abundant element on earth and essential for respiration.	Dioxygen,Oxygen-16,Oxygen 16
D010578	Petroleum	Naturally occurring complex liquid hydrocarbons which, after distillation, yield combustible fuels, petrochemicals, and lubricants.	Crude Oil,Crude Oils,Oil, Crude,Oils, Crude,Petroleums
D010758	Phosphorus	A non-metal element that has the atomic symbol P, atomic number 15, and atomic weight 31. It is an essential element that takes part in a broad variety of biochemical reactions.	Black Phosphorus,Phosphorus-31,Red Phosphorus,White Phosphorus,Yellow Phosphorus,Phosphorus 31,Phosphorus, Black,Phosphorus, Red,Phosphorus, White,Phosphorus, Yellow
D002849	Chromatography, Gas	Fractionation of a vaporized sample as a consequence of partition between a mobile gaseous phase and a stationary phase held in a column. Two types are gas-solid chromatography, where the fixed phase is a solid, and gas-liquid, in which the stationary phase is a nonvolatile liquid supported on an inert solid matrix.	Chromatography, Gas-Liquid,Gas Chromatography,Chromatographies, Gas,Chromatographies, Gas-Liquid,Chromatography, Gas Liquid,Gas Chromatographies,Gas-Liquid Chromatographies,Gas-Liquid Chromatography
D006863	Hydrogen-Ion Concentration	The normality of a solution with respect to HYDROGEN ions; H+. It is related to acidity measurements in most cases by pH	pH,Concentration, Hydrogen-Ion,Concentrations, Hydrogen-Ion,Hydrogen Ion Concentration,Hydrogen-Ion Concentrations
D000473	Alkanes	The generic name for the group of aliphatic hydrocarbons Cn-H2n+2. They are denoted by the suffix -ane. (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed)	Alkane
D001173	Arthrobacter	A genus of asporogenous bacteria isolated from soil that displays a distinctive rod-coccus growth cycle.
D001419	Bacteria	One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.	Eubacteria
D001673	Biodegradation, Environmental	Elimination of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS; PESTICIDES and other waste using living organisms, usually involving intervention of environmental or sanitation engineers.	Bioremediation,Phytoremediation,Natural Attenuation, Pollution,Environmental Biodegradation,Pollution Natural Attenuation