Biodegradation of crude oil using an efficient microbial consortium in a simulated marine environment.

Ochrobactrum sp. N1, Brevibacillus parabrevis N2, B. parabrevis N3 and B. parabrevis N4 were selected when preparing a mixed bacterial consortium based on the efficiency of crude oil utilization. A crude oil degradation rate of the N-series microbial consortium reached upwards of 79% at a temperature of 25 °C in a 3.0% NaCl solution in the shake flask trial. In the mesocosm experiment, a specially designed device was used to simulate the marine environment. The internal tank size was 1.5 m (L)×0.8 m (W)×0.7 m (H). The microbial growth conditions, nutrient utilization and environmental factors were thoroughly investigated. Over 51.1% of the crude oil was effectively removed from the simulated water body. The escalation process (from flask trials to the mesocosm experiment), which sought to represent removal under conditions more similar to the field, proved the high efficiency of using N-series bacteria in crude oil degradation.

[Application of PCR-dGGE in selective activation of stratal bacteria].

With the development of molecular biology, the research on microflora in the environment is accelerated and a new research method for oil reservoir microflora is provided. Based on the methods of PCR-DGGE, the change of the structure of dominant microbial population in selectiveactivation of stratal bacteria was studied. During activation, the change of samples' DGGE bandings under different pressure conditions (1 MPa and 10 MPa) was analyzed, the PCR alignment analysis of bacteria was studied, the dominant bacteria at different periods were explored, the phylogenetic tree of dominant DGGE banding sequence was build, and the groups of the main indigenous bacteria was also analyzed. The result showed that the structure and the quantity of stratal microorganism indicated obvious differences, under different pressure conditions. The species number of dominant microbial population increased, and the structure of dominant microbial population obviously changed after activation. Before activation, the main bacteria were belonged to Bacillales, and after injecting activation agent, the species of Proteobacteria increased.