Crude-oil-degrading thermophilic bacterium isolated from an oil field.

Thermophilic bacterium strain C2, which has the ability to transform crude oils, was isolated from the reservoir of the Shengli oil field in East China. The Gram-negative, rod-shaped, nonmotile cells were grown at a high temperature, up to 83 degrees C, in the neutral to alkaline pH range. Depending on the culture conditions, the organism occurred as single rods or as filamentous aggregates. Strain C2 was grown chemoorganotrophically and produced metabolites, such as volatile fatty acids, 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, bis(2-ethylhexyl)ester, dibutyl phthalate, and di-n-octyl phthalate. It could metabolize different organic substrates (acetate, D-glucose, fructose, glycerol, maltose, pyruvate, starch, sucrose, xylose, hexadecane). The G+C content (68 mol%) and the 16S rRNA sequence of strain C2 indicated that the isolate belonged to the genus Thermus. The strain affected different crude oils and changed their physical and chemical properties. The biochemical interactions between crude oils and strain C2 follow distinct trends characterized by a group of chemical markers (saturates, aromatics, resins, asphaltenes). Those trends show an increase in saturates and a decrease in aromatics, resins, and asphaltenes. The bioconversion of crude oils leads to an enrichment in lighter hydrocarbons and an overall redistribution of these hydrocarbons.