The Utilization of Certain Hydrocarbons by Microorganisms

Abstract

what he called a methane bacillus which was used by Orla-Jensen (1909) as the type culture for the genus Methanomonas, and renamed as Methanomonas methantica. (Described in Bergey (1939)). Munz (1920) isolated and studied a somewhat similar methane-oxidizing organism which he classed as a facultative autotrope. St6rmer (1908) isolated an organism which he called Bacillus hexcarbovorum that was able to utilize toluene, xylol, and illuminating gas, in addition to methane, as a source of carbon. Organisms resembling Bacterium fluorescens, as described by Lehmann and Neuman (1896), capable of oxidizing methane completely to carbon dioxide and water, were isolated from rice swamp soils by Aiyer (1920). Sohngen (1913) reported that gasoline, kerosene, paraffin oil, and paraffin wax could be oxidized to carbon dioxide, water, and traces of organic acids by forms isolated from garden soil, ditch water and compost. The organisms studied by S6hngen belonged principally to the genera Mycobacterium and Pseudomonas. The following organisms were described and studied in this connection: Mycobacterium phlei, M. lacticola, M. album, M. luteum, M. rubrum, M. hyolinum, Bacterium fluorescers 661 The results indicate that the ability to utilize hydrocarbons is a common characteristic of this genus, particularly since known TABLE 2 Growth of stock cultures of Pseudomonas on mineral-8alts agar with kerosene

Biodegradation of anthracene by a newly isolated bacterial strain,Bacillus thuringiensisAT.ISM.1, isolated from a fly ash deposition site

“…In order to prepare the desired medium, anthracene (50 mg l À1 ) was dissolved in acetone in a 250-ml conical flask. The mineral salt medium used for microbial hydrocarbon degradation study was Bushnell-Haas (Bushnell and Haas 1941) broth (HiMedia, Mumbai, India) composed of (l À1 deionized water): K 2 HPO 4 , 1 g; KH 2 PO 4 , 1 g; NH 4 NO 3 , 1 g; CaCl 2 , 0Á02 g; MgSO 4 , 0Á2 g; FeCl 3 , 0Á05 g, adjusted to pH 7 with NaOH (Grant et al 2002). The acetone was then evaporated from the conical flask and Bushnell-Haas broth (200 ml) was prepared in the same flask leaving anthracene as the sole carbon source.…”

Quantification of small-scale variation in the size and composition of phenanthrene-degrader populations and PAH contaminants in traffic-impacted topsoil

“…The reference cultures [P. putida OUS82 (Takizawa et al, 1994;Baldwin et al, 2003) and Mycobacterium sp. 6PY1 (Krivobok et al, 2003)] were grown in Bushnell-Haas mineral medium (Bushnell & Haas, 1941) with 5 g L À1 of phenanthrene. The phenanthrene was added to culture tubes in acetone solution, and the acetone was evaporated before addition of Bushnell-Haas medium.…”

Enhanced biodegradation and emulsification of crude oil and hyperproduction of biosurfactants by a gamma ray-induced mutant of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

“…Emulsification and conversion of Khaskheli crude oil by parent and the mutant strains was studied in 300 ml Erlenmeyer flasks containing 100 ml of BH (Bushnell and Hass 1941) medium with various levels of crude oil (1-4%) and 2% inoculum. At 48 h intervals, residual oil was obtained by solvent extraction with n-hexane, evaporated on a rotary evaporator and oven dried at 60°C.…”