Characterization of Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria from an Oil-Spill Site

Abstract

Inland oil spills are a huge threat to the environment and contaminate the surrounding freshwater. The least risky way to clean up a spill is the natural biodegradation of these hydrocarbons by Bacteria and Archaea. Many microbes are able to adjust their metabolic pathways to obtain energy from the available carbon sources (Beaver et al., 2015). This study had two main goals. 1st goal: to find out which microbes that Beaver et al. (2015) had previously identified from an oil-spill core sample are culturable and demonstrate abilities to alter their metabolic activities. 2nd goal: to find out which ratio of media to oil yields the most microbial DNA so that it could be used to construct microcosms for future research.