title: Hydrocarbon uptake by Streptomyces.
abstract: Oligocarbophilic Streptomyces strains capable of hydrocarbon uptake and utilization were isolated from the polluted desert of Kuwait and used in this study. Transmission electron-microscopy of hyphae revealed that they become enriched with large less electron dense areas in the cytoplasm, when biomass samples were incubated with alkanes. The Streptomyces isolate could utilize n-hexadecane as sole carbon and energy source and their fatty acid content showed an increase in the fatty acids with chain length equivalent to those of the alkane substrates. Fluorescence measurements of diphenylhexatriene dissolved in the representative alkane, n-hexadecane, showed that the kinetics of hydrocarbon uptake are quite different in hydrocarbon-utilizer compared with non-utilizer Streptomyces strain. Microviscosity of the cellular membrane of the utilizer strain was also different from that of the non-utilizer control strain Streptomyces griseus after incubation in the presence of n-hexadecane. Very likely the hydrocarbon utilizer transported these compounds more efficiently across their membranes and accumulated them as inclusions in the cytoplasm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Kuwait University, Kuwait.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Radwan
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barabás
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Sorkhoh
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Damjanovich
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Szabó
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Szöllósi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matkó
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Penyige
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirano
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Szabó
mesh_terms: D000473:Alkanes / Q000378:metabolism*; D018533:Biomass; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003889:Desert Climate; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D019652:Extraction and Processing Industry; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D007730:Kuwait; D010578:Petroleum; D013302:Streptomyces / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D000473:Alkanes; D005227:Fatty Acids; D010578:Petroleum; C007932:n-hexadecane