The use of Acinetobacter sp. for oil hydrocarbon degradation in saline waters

Abstract

This paper describes the problem of oil pollutant removal and the use of Acinetobacter genus microorganisms in oil biodegradation. As part of the experiments, Acinetobacter genus microorganism strain with the best ability to degrade crude oil and fuel oil in saline waters was selected from the microorganism collection of JSC “Biocentras”. The impact of environmental conditions (salinity, temperature, pH, substrate concentration) on this strain’s viability and the efficacy of its oil degradation processes were evaluated. The most efficient degradation of oil products by Acinetobacter genus bacteria was at temperature of 30 °C, in a pH range of 7–8, in model ocean water of 35 ‰ salinity.