Biochemical oxidation of polyaromatic compounds by hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria in a liquid medium

Abstract

The feasibility of biochemical oxidation of a mixture of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the absence of other sources of carbon and energy by the community of hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria (HOB) of Pseudomonas stutzeri, Pseudomonas putida, Bacillus cereus, and Arthrobacter globiformis species has been shown. The population of microorganisms has increased from 0.25 × 10⁴ to 11 × 10⁸ CFU/mL of medium during culturing, accompanied by an increase in their oxygenase activity. All the identified PAHs have undergone oxidation: the degree of degradation of biarenes, triarenes, tetraarenes, pentaarenes, and hexaarenes and their methylated homologues has varied from 11.3 to 100%.