Aliphatic hydrocarbons bacteria

Wren AB, Venosa AD (1996) Selective enumeration of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbon degrading bacteria by a most-probable-number procedure. Can J Microbiol 42 252-258... 

Petroleum as a Microbial Food Source Some microorganisms of the genera Nocardia and Pseudomonas can grow in an environment where hydrocarbons are the only food source. These bacteria oxidize straight-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons, such as octane, to their corresponding carboxylic acids ... 

Much effort has been concentrated on the fate of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons in aquifers (e.g., trichloroethylene, dichloroethylene). These chemicals undergo reductive dehalogenation under anaerobic conditions. By contrast, these compounds are degraded under aerobic conditions by methane-utilizing bacteria. For example, methan-otrophic bacteria can transform more than 50% of trichloroethane into CO2 and bacterial biomass. 

Methylotropic bacteria (for example Methylomonas methardca) will hydroxylate aromatics when methane or the like is also provided as a carbon source, and as in the case of aliphatic hydrocarbons further developments are likely as new strains of these bacteria are isolated. 

Arvin E. 1991. Biodegradation kinetics of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons with methane oxidizing bacteria in an aerobic fixed biofilm reactor. Water Res WATRAG 25(7) 873-881. 

Numerous studies have shown that lower aliphatic hydrocarbons containing up to at least 20 carbon atoms (molecular weights below 300 daltons) can be assimilated by a wide variety of microorganisms, including twenty or so different types of bacteria and 150 or so different types of yeasts, which are found in soil and marine sediments. In aqueous media, some of these microorganisms secrete surfactants to facilitate contact and the utilization of the hydrocarbon substrates. 

The ability of bacteria, yeasts, and fungi to convert aliphatic hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water has been studied intensively over the past decade because of concerns about the effects of crude oil spills on the environment. Microorganisms cannot survive when they are placed in high concentrations of crude oil or any of its components. However, they can utilize hydrocarbons very efficiently when they are placed in a medium in which an extensive lipid-water interface is created by agitation and aeration. Why ... 

Cell walls of fungi have significant amounts of aliphatic hydrocarbons which are presumed to act as a desiccation barrier - similar to higher plants. In contrast, bacteria do not usually contain large quantities of waxy... 

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