[Thermotolerant oil-degrading bacteria isolated from soil and water of geographically distant regions].

Oil-degrading bacteria were isolated from soil and water samples taken in Russia, Kazakhstan, and the Antarctic; 13 of 86 strains proved to be thermotolerant. These bacteria utilized crude oil at 45­50°C; their growth optimum (35­37°C) and range (20­53°C) differ from those of mesophilic bacteria. Thermotolerant strains were identified as representatives of the genera Rhodococcus and Gordonia. It was shown that their ability to degrade petroleum products does not differ at 24 and 45°C. The strains Rhodococcus sp. Par7 and Gordonia sp. 1D utilized 14 and 20% of the oil, respectively, in 14 days at 45°C. All of the isolated thermotolerant bacteria grew in a medium containing 3% NaCl; the medium for the strains Gordonia amicalis 1B and Gordonia sp. 1D contained up to 10% NaCl. The bacteria G. amicalis and Rhodococcus erythropolis were able to utilize crude oil and individual hydrocarbons at higher (up to 50°C) temperatures.

[Oil biodegradation by microbial-plant associations].

The degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons by plant-microbial associations, as well as the peculiarities of the interaction between microorganisms in consortium and the associated plants, have been studied. It was shown that degrader microorganisms that are part of the consortium Rhodococcus erythropolis S26, Acinetobacter baumannii 1 B, Acinetobacter baumannii 7, and Pseudomonas putida F701 were effective in the degradation of oil and were good colonizers of plant roots (barley). The efficiency of oil degradation increases when microorganisms and plants are used together.

[Bioremediation of oil-polluted soils: using the [13C]/[12C] ratio to characterize microbial products of oil hydrocarbon biodegradation].

We compared data on the extent of bioremediation in soils polluted with oil. The data were obtained using conventional methods of hydrocarbon determination: extraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, extraction IR spectroscopy, and extraction gravimetry. Due to differences in the relative abundances of the stable carbon isotopes (13C/12C) in oil and in soil organic matter, these ratios could be used as natural isotopic labels of either substance. Extraction gravimetry in combination with characteristics of the carbon isotope composition of organic products in the soil before and after bioremediation was shown to be the most informative approach to an evaluation of soil bioremediation. At present, it is the only method enabling quantification of the total petroleum hydrocarbons in oil-polluted soil, as well as of the amounts of hydrocarbons remaining after bioremediation and those microbially transformed into organic products and biomass.

Pseudomonas veronii strain 7-41 degrading medium-chain n-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Pollution of the environment by crude oil and oil products (represented by various types of compounds, mainly aliphatic, mono- and polyaromatic hydrocarbons) poses a global problem. The strain Pseudomonas veronii 7-41 can grow on medium-chain n-alkanes (C8-C12) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as naphthalene. We performed a genetic analysis and physiological/biochemical characterization of strain 7-41 cultivated in a mineral medium with decane, naphthalene or a mixture of the hydrocarbons. The genes responsible for the degradation of alkanes and PAHs are on the IncP-7 conjugative plasmid and are organized into the alk and nah operons typical of pseudomonads. A natural plasmid carrying functional operons for the degradation of two different classes of hydrocarbons was first described. In monosubstrate systems, 28.4% and 68.8% of decane and naphthalene, respectively, were biodegraded by the late stationary growth phase. In a bisubstrate system, these parameters were 25.4% and 20.8% by the end of the exponential growth phase. Then the biodegradation stopped, and the bacterial culture started dying due to the accumulation of salicylate (naphthalene-degradation metabolite), which is toxic in high concentrations. The activity of the salicylate oxidation enzymes was below the detection limit. These results indicate that the presence of decane and a high concentration of salicylate lead to impairment of hydrocarbon degradation by the strain.

[Effect of catabolic plasmids on physiological parameters and efficiency of oil destruction by bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas].

The ability of microbial degraders of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to grow at 24 degrees C in liquid mineral medium supplemented with oil as the sole source of carbon and energy was studied. Growth characteristics (CFU) and the level of oil destruction by plasmid-bearing and plasmid-free strains were determined after seven days of cultivation. The presence of catabolic plasmids in the degrader strains, including rhizosphere pseudomonads, was shown to increase cell growth and enhance the level of oil degradation. Strain Pseudomonas chlororaphis BS 1391 bearing plasmid pBS216 was found to be the most effective oil degrader.