Anaerobic degradation of alkylbenzenes in crude oil. II. Changes of oil composition upon incubation with sulfate-reducing and denitrifying bacteria
- Forschungszentrum Juelich (Germany)
- Max-Planck-Institut fuer Marine Mikrobiologie, Bremen (Germany); and others
Various alkylbenzenes in crude oils are degradable by several newly isolated sulfate-reducing and nitrate-reducing bacteria under strictly anoxic conditions. A mesophilic enrichment culture consisting of at least two different types of sulfate-reducing bacteria, depletes toluene, o- and m-xylene, o- and m-ethyltoluene, m-propyltoluene and m-cymene in crude oils at different rates. Experiments with different oils reveal that in general the degradation efficiency seems to depend not very strongly on the composition of the incubated oils. Results of our experiments with nitrate-reducing bacteria show that at least toluene, ethyltoluene and m-, p- and o-xylene in crude oils are biodegradable under denitrifying conditions. All organisms isolated so far exhibit a high substrate specifity. Up to now no indications for the alteration of other oil fractions, i.e. n-alkanes, biomarkers and PAH`s, could be observed with any of the bacteria used in this study. The possible role of alkylbenzene-degrading anaerobic bacteria in biodegradation of petroleums in natural environments will be discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 370437
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960376--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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