Study on the Mechanism of Transport of Hexadecane by Two Strains

Petroleum hydrocarbons cause serious environmental problems. The biodegradation of hydrocarbons has a high ecological significance that depends on the indigenous soil microorganisms to mineralize the organic contaminants. As the carbon source of microorganisms, how to transport through the transportation system of microbial cells is particularly important for microbial degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, such as hexadecane. In this study, transport of hexadecane by microorganism was investigated. Transport and accumulation of n-hexadecane by two strains in different times were analyzed. Meanwhile, as an inhibition, the impact of the inspection of NaN₃ on the concentration of n-hexadecane in the bacteria, as well as the mechanism of transport of n-hexadecane were investigated. The results of the experiments showed that the capable of transport of hexadecane by DQ01 was higher than that of DQ02. Inclusions were observed in two strains grown on hexadecane, but cells grown on glucose, with no intracellular hydrocarbon inclusions. Two types of inclusions were observed. DQ01 displayed rounded, transparent inclusions, while DQ02 showed a low abundance of much smaller inclusions. When an inhibitor, such as NaN₃, was added to two strains, the intracellular concentrations of hexadecane decreased. Thus, active uptake was proposed for degradation of hexadecane.