Abstract
Soil samples taken monthly from the Burgan South oil field of Kuwait for one year degraded crude oil, phenanthrene, and hexadecane. Bacteria were better degraders at high-temperature (55°C) than fungi, especially in the drier, hotter months. Depending on the period of sampling, bacteria degraded hydrocarbons in the range of 46–86% (crude oil), 42–100% (hexadecane) and 5–58% (phenanthrene). Fungi alone accounted for degradation by 20–81% (crude oil), 30–95% (hexadecane) and less than 55% (phenanthrene).
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Obuekwe, C.O., Hourani, G. & Radwan, S.S. High-temperature hydrocarbon biodegradation activities in Kuwaiti desert soil samples. Folia Microbiol 46, 535–539 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02817998
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02817998