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Technical communication: modelling the rates of biodegradation, nitrogen fixation and uptake of fixed nitrogen during bioremediation of crude oil-contaminated environments

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Abstract

Development of a biodegradation model for crude oil, which is a mixture of thousands of hydrocarbon compounds, involves numerous biochemical pathways when compared with degradation of individual hydrocarbons. The influence exerted by some factors such as nutrient limitations, particularly combined nitrogen compounds during biodegradation is well known. Hence the interpretation of the role of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the functioning of any oil-polluted ecosystem requires an assessment of the relative efficiency of the uptake of the mineralized or fixed nitrogen compound and the estimate of the nitrogen-supplying potential of the diazotrophic bacteria in that environment. Formulating a mathematical model may be of great importance in this interpretation, and in evaluating the success of such bacterial consortium in treatment plants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pollution Control and Biotechnology Unit, Department of Biochemistry, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

    Ikechukwu N.E. Onwurah

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  1. Ikechukwu N.E. Onwurah
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Correspondence to Ikechukwu N.E. Onwurah.

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Onwurah, I.N. Technical communication: modelling the rates of biodegradation, nitrogen fixation and uptake of fixed nitrogen during bioremediation of crude oil-contaminated environments. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 20, 833–836 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-004-8711-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-004-8711-7

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