title: Free-living dinitrogen-fixing bacteria isolated from petroleum refinery oily sludge.
abstract: Dinitrogen-fixing activity (acetylene reduction and N(2) fixation) was found in an oily sludge originating from a petroleum refinery. Two representative dinitrogen-fixing bacterial strains were isolated from this oily waste. Their nitrogenase activity was effective when they were cultivated on sterilized sludge or simple carbon substrates (organic acid salts, sugars). Using the classical methods, these strains could not be unambiguously related to other diazotrophic taxa. The landfarming process is widely used for oily sludge disposal; this study shows that oily sludges are more than a simple carbon input into the soil but that they must also be considered as real sources of dinitrogen-fixing and probably degradative microorganisms.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'écologie microbienne, U.A. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 697, Université Claude Bernard, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, and Laboratoire du traitement des déchets-protection des produits, Centre de Recherche ELF Solaize, 69360 Saint Symphorien d'Ozon, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Laguerre
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bossand
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bardin