Journal article

Publication year: 1989

Pages: 365-373

Journal: Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology

Volume number: 4

Issue number: 5

ISSN: 0169-4146

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01569538

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Abstract: 

This study examined the microbial degradation of fuel oil by nine highly adapted different commercially available mixed bacterial cultures (DBC-plus^™, Flow Laboratories, Meckenheim, F.R.G.) and a bacterial community from a domestic sewage sludge sample. All mixed cultures were cultivated under aerobic batch conditions shaking (110 rpm) at 20°C in a mineral base medium containing 1 or 5% (v/v) fuel oil as the sole carbon source. Percent degradation of fuel oil and the n-alkane fraction was recorded for the nine DBC-plus cultures and the mixed population of the activated sludge sample. The increase in colony counts, protein, and optical density was studied during a 31-day incubation period for DBC-plus culture A, DBC-plus culture A2 and the activated sludge sample. The activated sludge mixed culture was most effective in degrading fuel oil, but various isolated bacterial strains from this bacterial community were not able to grow on fuel oil as the sole carbon source. In contrast, the n-alkane degradation rates of the DBC-cultures were lower, but single strains from the commercially available mixed cultures were able to mineralize fuel oil hydrocarbons. Strains ofPseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated most frequently and these organisms were able to grow very rapidly on fuel oil as a complex sole carbon source. The results indicate that fuel oil degradation in domestic sewage sludge is performed by mixed populations of naturally occurring bacteria and does not depend on the application of highly adapted commercially available cultures.

Harvard Citation style: Dott, W., Feidieker, D., Kämpfer, P., Schleibinger, H. and Strechel, S. (1989) Comparison of autochthonous bacteria and commercially available cultures with respect to their effectiveness in fuel oil degradation, Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, 4(5), pp. 365-373. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01569538

APA Citation style: Dott, W., Feidieker, D., Kämpfer, P., Schleibinger, H., & Strechel, S. (1989). Comparison of autochthonous bacteria and commercially available cultures with respect to their effectiveness in fuel oil degradation. Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology. 4(5), 365-373. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01569538