ABSTRACT
Petroleum hydrocarbons are used as automotive fuels and as monomers for the production of a range of plastics. They provide the basis of the petrochemical industry, while the halogenated derivatives that have diverse application are discussed in later sections of this chapter. There is an enormous literature on the microbial degradation of alkanes: this has been motivated by applications as diverse as the utilization of methane and methanol for the production of single-cell protein, and to combating oil spills. The number and range of microorganisms is impressive, and includes many different taxa of bacteria, yeasts, and fungi. Bacteria include several thermophilic species of Geobacillus (Nazina et al. 2001) and Thermoleophilum (Yakimov et al. 2003a); the marine organisms Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus (Gauthier et al. 1992), Alcanivorax borkumensis (Yakimov et al. 1998), Thalassolituus oleivorans (Yakimov et al. 2004), Oleispira antarctica (Yakimov et al. 2003b); and Oceanobacter-related bacteria (Teramoto et al. 2009).
