title: Characterization of microbial communities in heavy crude oil from Saudi Arabia.
abstract: The complete mineralization of crude oil into carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds and cellular constituents can be carried out as part of a bioremediation strategy. This involves the transformation of complex organic contaminants into simpler organic compounds by microbial communities, mainly bacteria. A crude oil sample and an oil sludge sample were obtained from Saudi ARAMCO Oil Company and investigated to identify the microbial communities present using PCR-based culture-independent techniques. In total, analysis of 177 clones yielded 30 distinct bacterial sequences. Clone library analysis of the oil sample was found to containBacillus,ClostridiaandGammaproteobacteriaspecies while the sludge sample revealed the presence of members of theAlphaproteobacteria,Betaproteobacteria,Gammaproteobacteria,Clostridia,SpingobacteriaandFlavobacteria. The dominant bacterial class identified in oil and sludge samples was found to beBacilliandFlavobacteria, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the dominant bacterium in the oil sample has the closest sequence identity toEnterococcus aquimarinusand the dominant bacterium in the sludge sample is most closely related to the unculturedBacteroidetesbacterium designated AH.KK.
authors.affiliation: Atomic Energy Research Institute (AERI), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P. O. Box 6086, Riyadh, 11442 Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Majed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Albokari
authors.affiliation: Atomic Energy Research Institute (AERI), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P. O. Box 6086, Riyadh, 11442 Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mashhour
authors.affiliation: Atomic Energy Research Institute (AERI), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P. O. Box 6086, Riyadh, 11442 Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alshehri
authors.affiliation: School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL UK.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boothman
authors.affiliation: Saudi Aramco, Research & Development Center, P.O. Box 62, Dhahran, 31311 Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mousa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Enezi
keywords: 16S rRNA; Heavy crude oil; Oil sludge; PCR amplification; Saudi Aramco oil company