Rueter P, Rabus R, Wilkes H, Aeckersberg F, Rainey F A, Jannasch H W, Widdel F
Max-Planck-Institut für Marine Mikrobiologie, Bremen, Germany.
Nature. 1994 Dec 1;372(6505):455-8. doi: 10.1038/372455a0.
Many crude oil constituents are biodegradable in the presence of oxygen; however, a substantial anaerobic degradation has never been demonstrated. An unusually low content of n-alkanes in oils of certain deposits is commonly attributed to selective utilization of these hydrocarbons by aerobic microorganisms. On the other hand, oil wells and production fluids were shown to harbour anaerobic sulphate-reducing bacteria, but their actual electron donors and carbon sources were unknown. On the basis of nutritional properties of various bacterial isolates it was assumed that fatty acids and H2 are potential electron donors for sulphate reduction in situ. Here we demonstrate that hydrocarbons in crude oil are used directly by sulphate-reducing bacteria growing under strictly anoxic conditions. A moderately thermophilic pure culture selectively utilizes n-alkanes in oil for sulphate reduction to sulphide. In addition, a mesophilic sulphate-reducing enrichment culture is shown to oxidize alkylbenzenes in oil. Thus, sulphate-reducing bacteria utilizing aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons as electron donors may present a significant source of sulphide in oil deposits and oil production plants.
许多原油成分在有氧存在的情况下是可生物降解的；然而，从未证实过大量的厌氧降解。某些油藏中油的正构烷烃含量异常低，通常归因于需氧微生物对这些碳氢化合物的选择性利用。另一方面，油井和采出液中存在厌氧硫酸盐还原菌，但它们实际的电子供体和碳源尚不清楚。基于各种细菌分离株的营养特性，推测脂肪酸和H2是原位硫酸盐还原的潜在电子供体。在此，我们证明原油中的碳氢化合物可被在严格缺氧条件下生长的硫酸盐还原菌直接利用。一种中等嗜热纯培养物选择性地利用油中的正构烷烃将硫酸盐还原为硫化物。此外，一种嗜温硫酸盐还原富集培养物被证明能氧化油中的烷基苯。因此，利用脂肪族和芳香族碳氢化合物作为电子供体的硫酸盐还原菌可能是油藏和石油生产厂中硫化物的重要来源。
