Microbiology Program, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 5969, 13060 Safat, Kuwait.
Biomed Res Int. 2017;2017:1838072. doi: 10.1155/2017/1838072. Epub 2017 Sep 10.
Raw, domestic sewage of Kuwait City contained about 10 ml colony forming units of subsp. (56.6%), spp. (36%), and (7.4%), as characterized by their 16S rRNA-gene sequences. The isolated coliforms grew successfully on a mineral medium with crude oil vapor as a sole source of carbon and energy. Those strains also grew, albeit to different degrees, on individual -alkanes with carbon chains between C and C and on the individual aromatic hydrocarbons, toluene, naphthalene, phenanthrene, and biphenyl as sole sources of carbon and energy. These results imply that coliforms, like other hydrocarbonoclastic microorganisms, oxidize hydrocarbons to the corresponding alcohols and then to aldehydes and fatty acids which are biodegraded by -oxidation to acetyl CoA. The latter is a well-known key intermediate in cell material and energy production. cells grown in the presence of -hexadecane (but not in its absence) exhibited typical intracellular hydrocarbon inclusions, as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. Raw sewage samples amended with crude oil, -hexadecane, or phenanthrene lost these hydrocarbons gradually with time. Meanwhile, the numbers of total and individual coliforms, particularly , increased. It was concluded that coliform bacteria in domestic sewage, probably in other environmental materials too, are effective hydrocarbon-biodegrading microorganisms.
科威特市的未经处理的生活污水中含有约 10 ml 亚种的菌落形成单位（56.6%）、 spp.（36%）和 （7.4%），这是通过它们的 16S rRNA 基因序列来确定的。分离出的大肠菌群在以原油蒸气为唯一碳源和能源的矿物培养基上成功生长。这些菌株也可以在碳链在 C 和 C 之间的个别 -烷烃和个别芳烃甲苯、萘、菲和联苯上生长，作为碳源和能源。这些结果表明，大肠菌群与其他烃类降解微生物一样，将烃类氧化为相应的醇，然后氧化为醛和脂肪酸，通过 -氧化降解为乙酰辅酶 A。后者是细胞物质和能量产生的知名关键中间体。在 presence of -hexadecane（而不是 absence）下生长的 细胞通过透射电子显微镜显示出典型的细胞内烃类内含物。用原油、 -hexadecane 或菲增菌的原始污水样品随着时间的推移逐渐失去这些烃类，同时，总大肠菌群和个别大肠菌群的数量增加，特别是 。因此可以得出结论，生活污水中的大肠菌群，可能在其他环境物质中也是有效的烃类生物降解微生物。
