Characterization of a hydrocarbon degrading psychrotrophic Antarctic bacterium

Abstract

Antarctic soil chronically exposed to gas-oil was analysed in order to isolate and study the growth conditions of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria. Soil samples taken near the shoreline in Jubany Station (King George Island, South Shetland Islands) were used as inoculum in liquid culture media with crude oil as sole carbon source. A psychrotrophic Acinetobacter strain was isolated and selected for further investigations. Effects were studied of temperature, initial pH, NaCl concentration and different chemical structure of the hydrocarbon on growth. Degradation rate was determined with n-dodecane and n-hexadecane. Growth of Acinetobacter ADH-1 showed no differences at an initial pH of 7.0, 7.5 and 8.0. Optimum temperature ranged between 25–30°C but the strain was capable of growing on n-dodecane at 4°C. Growth was observed in the presence of 3.5% NaCl. A decrease in the surface tension values was observed in the culture broth during the first 20 h of incubation (from 68 din cm−1 to 31 din cm−1). This proved to be related to the cellular fraction of the culture. The study shows that Acinetobacter ADH-1 is a psychrotrophic bacteria able to grow with hydrocarbons as sole carbon and energy source and could be potentially useful to design bioremediation processes in temperate and cold climate areas.

Investigation about the efficiency of the bioaugmentation technique when applied to diesel oil contaminated soils

“…By incorporating an electron acceptor such as DCPIP to the culture medium, it is possible to ascertain the ability of the microorganism to utilize the hydrocarbon substrate by observing the color change of DCPIP from blue (oxidized) to colorless (reduced) (Hanson et al, 1993). This technique has been employed in several works, for instance, Roy et al (2002), Cormack and Fraile (1997), Mariano et al (2008a) and Pirôllo et al (2008).…”

Oleispira antarctica gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel hydrocarbonoclastic marine bacterium isolated from Antarctic coastal sea water

“…The most important permanently cold habitat is the ocean, since the temperature of more than 90 % of the seawater volume is below 5 uC. Genera that are typically well represented in cold, petroleum-contaminated sites are Acinetobacter, Arthrobacter, Mycobacterium, Pseudomonas, Rhodococcus and Sphingomonas, many of which can grow solely on hydrocarbon compounds and have been previously characterized as petroleum degraders of terrestrial origin (Rosenberg et al, 1992;MacCormack & Fraile, 1997). Although the role of these microbes is evident in the petroleum-degradation process in cold marine environments, Abbreviations: PLFA, phospholipid fatty acid; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid.…”

Biodegradability of commercial and weathered diesel oils

“…By incorporating an electron acceptor such as DCPIP to the culture medium, it is possible to ascertain the ability of the microorganism to utilize hydrocarbon substrate by observing the colour change of DCPIP from blue (oxidized) to colourless (reduced). This Hanson et al (13) technique has been employed in several works (8,20,24).…”