[Isolation of hydrocarbon-oxidizing psychrophilic bacteria from oil-polluted soils].

Microorganisms growing on a mineral medium with crude oil and its light fractions as only carbon and energy sources have been isolated from samples of oil-polluted soils collected in the Usa District (Komi Republic, Russia). For the first time, hydrocarbon-oxidizing psychrophilic bacteria of the genus Cytophaga have been found that are clearly capable of consuming crude oil hydrocarbons. A method for cultivating microorganisms on porous plastic is proposed. The data from the literature on the response of soil microbiota to oil pollution indicate that the pollution can activate or suppress the growth of various physiological groups of microorganisms [1]. Different soil and climatic conditions and pollution levels can give rise to different microbial cenoses, which include different associations and predominant microbial species.