The Microbial Degradation of Oil in Continuous Culture.

摘要

This project has dealt with the development and testing of an experimental laboratory model for the microbial degradation of oil in aquatic ecosystems. The type of oil used in these studies was a light diesel oil. The model, which is a continuous culture system, allowed the authors to observe the fate of a mini oil spill under quiescent conditions in a laboratory situation which closely resembles the environmental conditions of Lake Ontario. The bacterial attack follows a consistent pattern of slow emulsification, dispersion, and chemical alteration of the oil. It was discovered that the degradation of oil by bacteria resulted in a transformation process in which the hydrocarbons were converted into numerous types of end products which may be more recalcitrant and/or toxic than the original oil. The work illustrates the importance of knowing not only how bacteria remove oil from sight but of now they affect the fate of the oil once it becomes dispersed in the water column.