Microbial Utilization of hydrocarbons

Microbial utilization of Hydrocarbons (HCs)
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- One of the major environmental pollutants caused by HCs.
- Many microorganisms have the ability to utilize HCs as sole sources of energy and carbon and that
such microorganisms are widely distributed in nature, subsequently; can play a role in the impact
of petroleum pollutants in biodegradative removal.
● Chemistry of Petroleum biodegradation:
a. Degradation of Individual Hydrocarbons
- The petroleum mixture can be fractionated by silica gel chromatography into a saturated or
aliphatic, aromatic fraction, and an asphaltic or polar fraction.
- Hydrocarbons within the saturate fraction include n-alkanes, branched alkanes, and
cycloalkanes (naphthenes).
- The n-alkanes are considered the most readily degraded components in a petroleum
mixture.
- The biodegradation of n-alkanes normally proceeds by a mono-terminal attack; usually a
primary alcohol is formed followed by an aldehyde and a monocarboxylic acid.
- Degradation of the carboxylic acid proceeds by ß-oxidation with the subsequent formation
of two-carbon-unit shorter fatty acids and acetyl coenzyme A, with liberation of C02.
- Cycloalkanes are particularly resistant to microbial attack.
- Light aromatic hydrocarbons are subject to evaporation and to microbial degradation in a
dissolved state.
b. Degradation of Hydrocarbons Within Petroleum Mixtures
- The qualitative hydrocarbon content of the petroleum mixture influences the degradability
of individual hydrocarbon components.
- HCs within a crude oil were degraded less than separate HCs.
● Taxonomic relationships of Hydrocarbon-utilizing organisms
- A diverse group of bacteria and fungi have been shown to have this ability to degrade
petroleum hydrocarbons. Mix population of these microbes are more efficient.
- More than 100 species representing 30 microbial genera had been shown to be capable of
utilizing hydrocarbons.
- The most important (based on frequency of isolation) genera of hydrocarbon utilizers in
aquatic environments.
- The indigenous microbial communities are likely to contain microbial populations of
differing taxonomic relationships which are capable of degrading the contaminating
hydrocarbons.
● Distribution of Hydrocarbon-utilizing organisms
- Hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria and fungi are widely distributed in marine, freshwater, and
soil habitats.
- A number of investigators have used hydrocarbons incorporated into an agar-based
medium.
- The use of silica gel as a solidifying agent has been shown to improve the reliability of
procedures for enumerating hydrocarbon utilizers

- Most-probable-number (MPN) procedures have been suggested as a substitute for plate
count procedures for enumerating hydrocarbon utilizing microorganisms,
- It is clear from a number of studies that the distribution of hydrocarbon-utilizing
microorganisms reflects the historical exposure of the environment to hydrocarbons. A large
number of laboratory studies have demonstrated sizable increases in populations of
hydrocarbon-utilizing microorganisms when environmental samples are exposed to
petroleum hydrocarbons.
- Several studies have shown a rise in populations of hydrocarbon-utilizing microorganisms
after oil spills and can be used as a sensitive index of environmental exposure to
hydrocarbons.
● Environmental Factors influencing biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbon
- The fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in the environment is largely determined by abiotic
factors which influence the weathering, including biodegradation of the oil.
- Factors which influence rates of microbial growth and enzymatic activities affect the rates of
petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation.
● physical state of oil pollution
- The physical state of petroleum hydrocarbons has a marked effect on their biodegradation.
- At very low concentrations hydrocarbons are soluble in water, but most oil spill incidents
release petroleum hydrocarbons in concentrations far in excess of the solubility limits.
- The degree of spreading determines in part the surface area of oil available for microbial
colonization by hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms; in aquatic systems, the oil normally
spreads, forming a thin slick. The degree of spreading is reduced at low temperatures
because of the viscosity of the oil. In soils, petroleum hydrocarbons are absorbed by plant
matter and soil particles, limiting its spreading.
- Hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms act mainly at the oil-water interface. Hydrocarbon
degrading microorganisms can be observed growing over the entire surface of an oil
droplet; growth does not appear to occur within oil droplets in the absence of entrained
water. Availability of increased surface area should accelerate biodegradation. Not only is
the oil made more readily available to microorganisms, but movement of emulsion droplets
through a water column makes oxygen and nutrients more readily available to
microorganisms.
- In aquatic ecosystems, oil normally forms emulsions. This has been termed
"pseudosolubilization" of the oil. The water-in-oil emulsion which occurs in seawater after
oil spills is referred to as "chocolate mousse" or simply "mousse". Mousse is chemically and
physically heterogeneous. Photooxidation and microbial oxidation have been reported to
play a role in mousse formation under different environmental conditions; the mousse
probably are more susceptible to microbial degradation.
- A number of hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms produce emulsifying agents. Some of
these bioemulsifiers have been considered for use in cleaning oil storage tanks, such as on
supertankers.
- Petroleum hydrocarbons occur in the environment as tar balls. Hydrocarbons in tar are
quite resistant to microbial degradation.

- The point of view of microbial hydrocarbon degradation, dissolution and emulsification of
hydrocarbons appear to have a positive effect on degradation rates. If there are no adverse
toxic effects, dispersion of oil should accelerate microbial hydrocarbon degradation. This is
an important consideration when determining whether dispersants should be added to oil
spills.
○ Temperature
- Hydrocarbon biodegradation can
occur over a wide range of
temperatures, and psychrotrophic,
mesophilic, and thermophilic
hydrocarbon-utilizing microorganisms
have been isolated.
- Temperature can have a marked
effect on the rates of hydrocarbon
degradation. The effects of
temperature on the physical state of
hydrocarbons was discussed.
○ Nutrients
- The studies indicate that the available concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus severely
limit the extent of hydrocarbon degradation after most major oil spills.
- Rates of nutrient renewal are inadequate to support rapid biodegradation of large
quantities of oil.
- The addition of nitrogen and phosphorus containing fertilizers can be used to stimulate
microbial hydrocarbon degradation.
○ Oxygen
- Oxygen is absolutely required for anaerobic degradation.
- There have been several reports of isolated microorganisms which are capable of alkane
dehydrogenation under anaerobic conditions.
○ Salinity and Pressure
- Saline lakes or deep seas (high hydrostatic pressure) has an influence factor on hydrocarbon
biodegradation , which represent specialized environments that may be contaminated by
petroleum hydrocarbons.
- Attempts to enrich for microorganisms, in saline waters, able to use mineral oil as a sole
source of carbon and energy were successful below, but not above, approximately 20%
salinity. A study strongly suggests a general reduction of metabolic rate at extreme salinities
and raises doubts about the biodegradation of hydrocarbons in hypersaline environments.
- It appears that oil which enters deep-ocean environments will be degraded very slowly and
persist for long periods of time.

Mechanism of Petroleum HCs Aerobic Degradation

Microbial Utilization of hydrocarbons

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