Biodegradation of petroleum products by microorganisms adapted to high crude oil concentration in presence of easy assimilated carbon source.

The studies focused on the effect of the addition of low concentrations of glucose - a substrate that is readily subject to microbiological degradation, on the rate of biodegradation of petroleum products. Glucose in concentration 1% was introduced into mineral medium containing 3% crude oil, with or without bacterial inoculum. The rate of degradation of crude oil in the individual cultures was determined for 3 weeks. The degradation of petroleum products in liquid mineral medium reached 56% after 21 days of growth in the presence of 1% concentration of glucose. The introduction of bacteria that had been cultured earlier in the presence of petroleum products had an effect on hydrocarbon removal efficiency - in both the presence and absence of glucose, the percent reduction of crude oil was high, reaching 76 and 86, respectively, after 21 days.