Asphalt Eaters

Sometimes a scientific discovery in biology can be made not only in places where almost no human has ever set foot, but also in the center of a huge city. In the soil of Los Angeles, American microbiologists were able to discover several new species of bacteria that can survive in difficult conditions. The most useful property of these microbes for humans turned out to be their ability to feed on heavy hydrocarbons - bitumen and natural asphalt. Bacteria caught in an oil trap 28 thousand years ago have learned to live virtually without oxygen, converting oil products into natural methane gas.

This type of microorganism was studied by ecologists from the University of California (Riverside) Jong Shik Kim and Dave Crowley. They studied oil sands - layers of sedimentary rocks underlying the soil, saturated with heavy fractions of oil. According to Crowley, scientists were interested in the bubbles of methane rising from the ground. Researchers were able not only to discover the biochemical mechanism by which bacteria decompose bitumen, but also to isolate the DNA of these microbes. To do this, they froze bitumen with liquid nitrogen, crushed it into dust and cleaned it of impurities. According to biologists, bacteria use several enzymes that destroy heavy hydrocarbons, and manage to do this in extremely difficult conditions - without water, without oxygen and in the presence of toxic chemical compounds.

This, of course, is not the first type of microorganism that can feed on oil. Quite a few similar bacteria are now known. There are even fastidious microorganisms that prefer to eat certain types of oil and disdain other types of hydrocarbons. Many scientists are trying to adapt this “oil life” to work for the benefit of humanity. For example, the Chinese Xinhua agency recently reported that it had deciphered the genome of one of these bacteria. At Nankai University in Tianjin, where this work was carried out, they hope that these microorganisms can be used to clean up soil from oil pollution. In addition, bacteria that convert heavy hydrocarbons into lighter compounds could theoretically be used in oil fields to increase oil production.

In addition, scientists want to use these unique microorganisms (or the enzyme mechanism they use to survive) for new biochemical technologies, for example, in the production of biofuels or for the synthesis of drugs. But these bacteria also have one more, very unexpected property: the discovered microbes and their relatives are able to adapt not only to toxic hydrocarbons, but also to life among other toxic substances that destroy all living things. In particular, bacteria can survive in conditions of high salinity and even harsh radioactive radiation.

Mikhail MANSKOY