title: Biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons by two Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains with different uptake modes.
abstract: The uptake modes of alkanes by two strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa S and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Y) were compared in this article. It was found that the strain of P. aeruginosa S showed low cell surface hydrophobicity and the surface tension of the broth decreased when the strain was cultivated on alkanes. On the contrary, P. aeruginosa Y showed higher cell surface hydrophobicity and the change in surface tension was not significant. This suggests that P. aeruginosa Y accessed hydrocarbon droplets by direct contact mode, while P. aeruginosa S engaged hydrocarbon droplets by biosurfactant-medium mode. The biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons by the two strains was also investigated. The results showed that irrespective of the substrate utilized: liquid hydrocarbons, solid hydrocarbons or crude oil in contaminated soil, the degradation by P. aeruginosa S was faster than that by P. aeruginosa Y. It was also deduced that the produced biosurfactant is advantageous in improving the biodegradation process.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Southern Yangtze University, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ruohai
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Zhaozhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.forename: Huazhong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000254:growth & development*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D010578:Petroleum; D012989:Soil Pollutants