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Degradation of crude oil by an arctic microbial consortium

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Abstract

The ability of a psychrotolerant microbial consortium to degrade crude oil at low temperatures was investigated. The enriched arctic microbial community was also tested for its ability to utilize various hydrocarbons, such as long-chain alkanes (n-C24 to n-C34), pristane, (methyl-)naphthalenes, and xylenes, as sole carbon and energy sources. Except for o-xylene and methylnaphthalenes, all tested compounds were metabolized under conditions that are typical for contaminated marine liquid sites, namely at pH 6–9 and at 4–27°C. By applying molecular biological techniques (16S rDNA sequencing, DGGE) nine strains could be identified in the consortium. Five of these strains could be isolated in pure cultures. The involved strains were closely related to the following genera: Pseudoalteromonas (two species), Pseudomonas (two species), Shewanella (two species), Marinobacter (one species), Psychrobacter (one species), and Agreia (one species). Interestingly, the five isolated strains in different combinations were unable to degrade crude oil or its components significantly, indicating the importance of the four unculturable microorganisms in the degradation of single or of complex mixtures of hydrocarbons. The obtained mixed culture showed obvious advantages including stability of the consortium, wide range adaptability for crude oil degradation, and strong degradation ability of crude oil.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Hauke Trinks from Hamburg University of Technology for supplying the samples from Spitzbergen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Technical Microbiology, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Kasernenstrasse 12, 21073, Hamburg, Germany

    Uta Deppe & Garabed Antranikian

  2. Center for Environmental Research Leipzig Halle, Permoser Str. 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Hans-Hermann Richnow

  3. Institut für Biogeochemie und Meereschemie, Fachbereich Geowissenschaften, Universität Hamburg, Bundesstrasse 55, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Michaelis

Authors
  1. Uta Deppe
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  2. Hans-Hermann Richnow
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  3. Walter Michaelis
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  4. Garabed Antranikian
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Correspondence to Garabed Antranikian.

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Communicated by K. Horikoshi

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Deppe, U., Richnow, HH., Michaelis, W. et al. Degradation of crude oil by an arctic microbial consortium. Extremophiles 9, 461–470 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-005-0463-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-005-0463-2

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