A Bacterial Route to Oil

1
A Bacterial Route to Oil

• Chemstry 0602
• 40662054
• Shuang Hua

2
The Search for Oil

• Oil reserve discoveries are becoming increasingly
  rare, and companies have started to drill
  offshore to meet the still growing demand for
  this energy resource.
• Movement along fault lines can act to contain oil
  reserves in so-called fault traps, but oil can
  seep out at the fault line, creating a macroseep.
• These seeps are evident at the waters surface
  and by radar and satellite imaging.

(http//www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/systems/traps/ stru
ctural/structural.html)
http//www.npagroup.com/oilandmineral/offshore/see
pdetectiontraining.htm
3
Current Oil Drilling Method

• Oil companies drill at these seep sites to tap in
  to oil stores, yet depending on the shape of the
  fault line, the seep might occur far from the
  actual oil resevoir.
• Thus drilling at these sites causes unnecessary
  environmental damage and can worsen the seep.

http//www.taxon.com/index.html
http//yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/01/world_he
lps_leb.php
4
The Remedy From Taxon

• Taxon Biosciences has developed a method for
  finding oil stores that is more reliable and
  therefore better for the environment.
• Their method makes use of marine bacteria which
  metabolize the hydrocarbons in oil.
• In fact, there are 79 bacterial genera that can
  use hydrocarbons as a sole source of carbon and
  energy, as well as 9 cyanobacterial genera, 103
  fungal genera and 14 algal genera that are known
  to degrade or transform hydrocarbons. (Head, 173)

http//www.taxon.com/About.htm
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Discovery

• Alcanivorax borkumensis

• The possibilities of hydrocarbon-metabolizing
  bacteria were recognized through studies of the
  impact of oil seeps and spills on the
  environment.
• Water contaminated with oil showed large
  increases in these bacterial species with a
  couple weeks of contamination.
• One particular bacteria, Alcanivorax spp., was
  shown to increase from being undetectable in
  oil-treated sea water to constituting 70-90 of
  prokaryotic cells within 1 to 2 weeks. (Head,
  174)

http//www.biotechnologie.de/bio/generator/Navigat
ion/Deutsch/root,did44744.html
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Effects on Oil

• There are more than 17,000 identified compounds
  in crude oil asphaltenes, resins, and saturated
  and aromatic hydrocarbons, of which the last two
  are most abundant.
• Bacteria such as Alcanivorax spp. are
  particularly efficient at metabolizing
  branched-chain hydrocarbons, partly because these
  compounds are produced by some species of
  plankton, and Cycloclasticus spp. digests
  aromatic hydrocarbons.
• Blooms in these bacteria have been shown to
  correspond to attenuation of these hydrocarbons
  in oil.

http//www.nature.com/nrmicro/journal/v4/n3/full/n
rmicro1348.html
7
http//www.nature.com/nrmicro/journal/v4/n3/full/n
rmicro1348.html
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Mechanism

• Bacteria use the alkene or alkane monooxygenase
  and epoxide carboxylase enzymes as well as
  coenzymes NADH, NADPH, and CoA to process
  hydrocarbons.
• The enzymes are believed to use radical chemistry
  in these reactions.

CoA
(http//www.3rd1000.com/chem301/chem301x.htm)
(http//www.chem.usu.edu/ensigns/files/ensignlabb
rochure.pdf)
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Detection of Bacteria

• Taxon Biosciences uses SARD (Serial Analysis of
  Ribosomal DNA) along with gel electrophoresis and
  PCR to detect the 16S rRNA gene, which codes the
  production of enzymes necessary for hydrocarbon
  metabolism.
• Through bioindicator surveys, Taxon can map the
  population densities of bacteria that feed on
  hydrocarbons through 16S rRNA extractions from
  soil samples.
• Areas of higher density can signal the presence
  of oil stores, indicating a good place for oil
  companies to drill and taking away the guess and
  check drilling method currently used.

http//www.taxon.com/index.html
http//www.taxon.com/Technology.htm
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Whats Next

• Another method for non-invasive detection of oil
  resevoirs is being developed next door to Taxon
  Biosciences at the Romberg Tiburon Center for
  Environmental Studies in the San Francisco Bay
  area.
• This method seeks to relate carbon isotope levels
  to the carbon that remains in soil and degrades
  into oil over time.
• The hypothesis for this experiment is that carbon
  14 selectively remains in the particulate form,
  while carbon 12 and 13 are more likely to be
  incorporated in dissolved organic or inorganic
  carbon.

RTC
http//www.physics.sfsu.edu/ seamount/
http//www.serc.si.edu/labs/marine_invasions/MIRL_
at_RTC/MIRL_at_RTC.jsp
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Works Cited

• Ensign, Dr. Scott. Research Overview and
  Publications. Utah State University. 19
  January 2008 lthttp//www.chem.usu.edu/ensigns/fil
  es/ensignlabbrochure.pdfgt.
• Ensign, Scott A. USU Chemistry and
  Biochemistry faculty staff Scott A. Ensign.
  2007. Utah State University. 19 January 2008
  lthttp//www.chem.usu.edu/faculty_staff/webpages/sc
  ottensign.phpgt.
• Head, Ian M., D. Martin Jones, and Wilfred F. M.
  Röling. Marine microorganisms make a meal of
  oil. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 4 (2006)
  173-182. 19 January 2008 lthttp//www.nature.com/
  nrmicro/journal/v4/n3/full/nrmicro1348.htmlgt.
• Seep Detection Training Technology Transfer.
  NPA Group. 2008. 26 February 2008.
  lthttp//www.npagroup.com/oilandmineral/offshore/se
  epdetectiontraining.htmgt.
• Structural Traps. Petroleum Education
  Hydrocarbon Systems. The Paleontological
  Research Institution. 19 January 2008
  lthttp//www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/systems/traps/struc
  tural/structural.htmlgt.
• Taxon Biosciences Home Page. 2007. Taxon
  Biosciences. 19 January 2008 lthttp//www.taxon.co
  m/index.htmlgt.