MICROBIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS

I. DETERMINATION OF HYDROCARBON-UTILIZING BACTERIA

Abstract

Hydrocarbon-utilizing bacteria were isolated from oil-brine, soils etc. sampled in oil fields in Japan during 1956, and the following species were identified: Corynebacterium hydrocarboclastus nov. sp., 11 strains; Pseudomonas nitroreducens nov. sp., 1 strain; Pseudomonas maltophila HUGH and RYSCHENKOW, 5 strains: Brevibacterium lipolyticum (HUSS) BREED, 2 strains; Pseudomonas desmolytica GRAY and THORNTON, 5 strains; Flavobacterium ferrugineum SICKLES and SHAW, 1 strain; and Alcaligenes faecalis CHASTELLANI and CHALMERS, 1 strain. One difference between Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria was described on the basis of the ability of assimilating hydrocarbons.