Biodegradation of

Petroleum Hydrocarbons
By: Sheikh Amir Hamza.
256-FBAS-BSBT-F12
 Chemicals derived from petroleum or natural
gas.
 Major petrochemicals are acetylene, benzene,
ethane, ethylene, methane, propane, and
hydrogen.
 A huge variety of products are made with
petrochemicals.
 Including plastics, soaps, pharmaceuticals,
fertilizers, pesticides, detergents.

What are petrochemicals?

Molecular structures of
hydrocarbons.
 HCS belong to the family of carcinogens
and neurotoxic organic pollutants.
 Main cause of water and soil pollution.
 Accumulation of pollutants in living cells
may cause death or mutations.
 Their removal is necessary.

Cons of Hydrocarbons
Biodegradation of HCS is a complex process
depending on:
 the nature
 Amount of the hydrocarbons present
Petroleum HCS divided into four classes:
 The alephatics
 The aromatics
 The asphaltenes (phenols, fatty acids,
ketones, esters, and porphyrins),
 And the resins (pyridines, quinolines,
carbazoles, sulfoxides, and amides

Microbial Degradation of
Petroleum Hydrocarbons
 Bioaugmentation:
It is the introduction of biodegrading
microbes at the site of spill to aid the
indigenous microbial species.
 Biostimulation:
In Biostimulation nutrients and growth
limiting factors are added to soil
indigenous microbes.

Approaches In HC’s Degradation

 by bacteria, yeast, and fungi.
 Mix population of these microbes are
more efficient.
 Bacteria are the most active agents in
petroleum degradation.

Natural mechanism for degrading

HCS
 Enzymes and microbes
Participating in Degradation of
HCS
Enzymes Substrates Microorganis Referenc
ms es
Soluble Methane C1–C8 alkanes alkenes Methylococcus McDonald
Monooxygenases and cycloalkanes et al.
Methylomonas
Particulate Methane C1–C5 (halogenated) Methylobacter McDonald
Monooxygenases alkanes and et al.
cycloalkanes Methylococcus
AlkB related C5–C16 alkanes, fatty Pseudomonas Jan et al.
Alkane acids, alkyl benzenes,
Hydroxylases cycloalkanes Burkholderia
Rhodococcus
Mycobacterium
Eukaryotic P450 C10–C16 alkanes, fatty Candida Iida et al
acids maltosa
Candida
tropicalis
Yarrowia
lipolytica
Mechanism of Petroleum HCS
Degradation
 Biosynthesis of cell biomass occurs from
the central precursor metabolites, for
example,
 acetyl-CoA, succinate, pyruvate.
Other mechanisms are
 Attachment of microbial cells to the
substrates.
 Production of biosurfactsants.

Mechanism of Petroleum HCS

Degradation
Petroleum compounds are categorized into
2 groups
 Aliphatic hydrocarbon e.g. alkane,
alcohol, aldehyde
 Aromatic hydrocarbon e.g. benzene,
phenol, toluene, catechol

Biodegradation of Petroleum
compounds
Straight chain Aliphatic
Hydrocarbons
Cyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
 Under nitrate-reducing bacteria

 Sulfate-reducing bacteria

Anaerobic degradation
A number of limiting factors affect the
biodegradation of petroleum HCS
 Chemistry of HCS
 Physiological factors
 Nutrients

Factors Influencing Petroleum

HCS Degradation
Temperature Range
 Cleaning up of petroleum HCS is a real world
problem.
 It depends on the indigenous microorganisms to
transform or mineralize the organic
contaminants.
 Microbial degradation process aids the
elimination of spilled oil from the environment
after critical removal of large amounts of the oil
by various physical and chemical methods.
 This is possible because microorganisms have
enzyme systems to degrade and utilize different
hydrocarbons as a source of carbon and energy.
 Therefore, based on the present review, it may
Conclusion
be concluded that microbial degradation can be
considered as a key component in the cleanup
strategy for petroleum hydrocarbon remediation