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Oil-eating Bacteria: a tool for bioremediation

By Ansley Grider

Introduction

The use of petroleum, or crude oil, has been increasing since the industrial revolution (Villela et al., 2019). Each year, three million tons of oil enters the ocean (Brooijmans et al., 2009). Oil can pollute environments and cause harm to species who inhabit areas contaminated by oil (Villela et al., 2019). Therefore, there is a desperate need for environmentally-friendly techniques for cleaning up oil-polluted areas. One such technique involves bioremediation, which is the use of microbes to convert toxic pollutants, such as anthropogenic oil, into non-toxic pollutants (Ezezika and Singer, 2010). Recent scientific work has found that some bacteria (Oleispira, Oleiphilus, Thalassolituus, Alcanivorax and Cycloclasticus) can feed on oil due to their hydrocarbon‐degrading abilities (Brooijmans et al., 2009).

Evolution has played a role in the formation of species capable of degrading oil. Oils are naturally found in environments from seeps in the seafloor and from fatty acids and lipids produced by plants and animals (Yakimov et al, 2007). This has led to some bacteria evolving to produce enzymes capable of breaking down oils, which allows these bacteria to colonize oil niches (Yakimov et al, 2007). The enzymes produced by hydrocarbon‐degrading bacteria often break down the two major compounds found in oil: alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) (Brooijmans et al., 2009).

References

1. Brooijmans, R. J., Pastink, M. I., & Siezen, R. J. (2009). Hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria: the oil-spill clean-up crew. Microbial biotechnology, 2(6), 587–594.

2. Ezezika, O.C. and Singer, P.A. (2010). Genetically engineered oil-eating microbes for bioremediation: Prospects and regulatory challenges. Technology in Society. 32(4): 331-335.

3. Villela, H.D.M, Peixoto, R.S., Soriano, A.U., Carmo, F.L. (2019). Microbial bioremediation of oil contaminated seawater: A survey of patent deposits and the characterization of the top genera applied. Science of The Total Environment. 666: 743-758.

4. Yakimov, M.M. Timmis, K.N., Golyshin, P.N. (2007). Obligate oil-degrading marine bacteria. Current Opinion in Biotechnology. 18(3): 257-266.