Department of Biological Sciences, Kuwait University, Safat 13060, Kuwait.
Arch Microbiol. 2012 Aug;194(8):689-705. doi: 10.1007/s00203-012-0800-7. Epub 2012 Mar 8.
Kuwaiti habitats with two-decade history of oil pollution were surveyed for their inhabitant oil-utilizing bacterioflora. Seawater samples from six sites along the Kuwaiti coasts of the Arabian Gulf and desert soil samples collected from seven sites all over the country harbored oil-utilizing bacteria whose numbers made up 0.0001-0.01% of the total, direct, microscopic counts. The indigenous bacterioflora in various sites were affiliated to many species. This was true when counting was made on nitrogen-containing and nitrogen-free media. Seawater samples harbored species belonging predominantly to the Gammaproteobacteria and desert soil samples contained predominantly Actinobacteria. Bacterial species that grew on the nitrogen-free medium and that represented a considerable proportion of the total in all individual bacterial consortia were diazotrophic. They gave positive acetylene-reduction test and possessed the nifH genes in their genomes. Individual representative species could utilize a wide range of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, as sole sources of carbon and energy. Quantitative determination showed that the individual species consumed crude oil, n-octadecane and phenanthrene, in batch cultures. It was concluded that the indigenous microflora could be involved in bioremediation programs without bioaugmentation or nitrogen fertilization. Irrigation would be the most important practice in bioremediation of the polluted soil desert areas.
对科威特具有二十年石油污染历史的栖息地进行了调查，以了解其居民利用石油的细菌菌群。从阿拉伯湾科威特沿岸的六个地点采集的海水样本和从全国各地七个地点采集的沙漠土壤样本中，均存在能利用石油的细菌，其数量占总数的 0.0001-0.01%，直接进行显微镜计数即可。不同地点的土著细菌菌群隶属于许多物种。无论是在含氮和不含氮培养基上进行计数，情况均如此。海水样本中存在的物种主要属于γ变形菌门，而沙漠土壤样本中则主要含有放线菌。在不含氮的培养基上生长且在所有单个细菌共生体中占相当大比例的细菌物种是固氮的。它们的乙炔还原试验呈阳性，并且在其基因组中具有 nifH 基因。个别代表性物种可以利用广泛的脂肪族和芳香族碳氢化合物作为碳和能源的唯一来源。定量测定表明，在分批培养中，各个物种都能消耗原油、正十八烷和菲。结论是，土著微生物群无需生物强化或氮施肥即可参与生物修复计划。灌溉将是污染土壤沙漠地区生物修复的最重要实践。
