Degradation of hydrocarbons in crude oil by the ascomycetePseudallescheria boydii(Microascaceae)

Abstract

Four unique strains of Pseudallescheria boydii were isolated from oil-soaked soils in British Columbia and Alberta and compared to strains from cattle dung and raw sewage. Considerable variability in morphology, colony appearance, colony diameter, and temperature tolerance occurred among the strains. They also varied in the sporogenous states produced in culture; all strains had a Scedosporium anamorph and either the Graphium anamorph or cleistothecial teleomorph. Conspecificity of the six isolates was inferred from their morphology and supported by restriction fragment length polymorphism profiles of the internally transcribed spacer region of rDNA and comparing these to Petriella sordida, a similar taxon in the Microascaceae. Three of the strains isolated from oil-contaminated soil and the strain from sewage were tested for their ability to utilize hydrocarbons by incubation with Prudhoe Bay Crude oil as the sole carbon source. Gas chromatographic analysis of the residual oil revealed that the strains isolated from oil-contaminated soil degraded the linear aliphatics. The strain from sewage, previously shown by others to utilize the volatile n-alkanes (i.e., ethane, propane, and butane), did not utilize the liquid saturate compounds. None of the strains was observed to degrade compounds in the aromatic fraction. Pseudallescheria boydii may be an important agent for in situ bioremediation of saturates in oil-contaminated sites.

Biodegradation of aliphatic hydrocarbon by indigenous fungi isolated from used motor oil contaminated sites

“…Colony growth rate evaluation on selective media have been extensively used to investigate the growth of filamentous fungi in most research studies on screening and isolating the hydrocarbon and their derivatives degrading fungi (April et al 1998;Saraswathy and Hallberg 2002;Mesyami and Baheri 2003;Santos and Linardi 2004;Santos et al 2008).…”

Human‐impacted areas of France are environmental reservoirs of the Pseudallescheria boydii/Scedosporium apiospermum species complex

“…forests). This is consistent with the previously described ability of these fungi to survive in hydrocarbon‐contaminated soils like flare pit or oil‐soaked soils (April et al ., 1998; 2000) in relation with their capacity to use natural gas (Guarro et al ., ), to degrade linear aliphatic (April et al ., 1998; 2000) and aromatic compounds (Claussen and Schmidt, 1998; 1999). Moreover, the risk for scedosporiosis after aspiration of sewage or highly polluted, stagnant or muddy waters, as in many near‐drowning incidents, is a well‐known phenomenon.…”

Scedosporium apiospermum: changing clinical spectrum of a therapy-refractory opportunist*

“…Its occurrence is promoted in manure-enriched or polluted environments, such as agricultural and garden soil [35 Á37], sewer [38], or ditch mud and polluted pond bottoms [39,40]. It is also found in hydrocarbon-contaminated soils [41], being able to assimilate natural gas [42,43] and aromatic compounds [44] and has therefore been suggested for use in bioremediation [45]. All these environments are poorly aerated; the fungus is able to grow at low oxygen tensions, and even shows activity under strictly anaerobic conditions [39].…”