Microbial diversity in production waters of a low-temperature biodegraded oil reservoir.

Microbial communities in two production waters of a low-temperature and low-salinity petroleum reservoir in Canada were examined using cultural and molecular approaches. The predominant cultivated microorganisms were homoacetogens but sulfate-reducers, acetoclastic methanogens and denitrifiers also gave significant counts. The dominant members of the culturable population were affiliated with the Firmicutes, the "Deltaproteobacteria", the "Epsilonproteobacteria", the Spirochaetes and the Euryarchaeota.

Characterization of long-chain fatty-acid-degrading syntrophic associations from a biodegraded oil reservoir.

Molecular methods were used to characterize stearate- and heptadecanoate-degrading methanogenic consortia enriched from a low-temperature biodegraded oil field. Stearate- and heptadecanoate-degrading cultures formed acetate. Growth on heptadecanoate was also accompanied by the production of propionate.

Petrimonas sulfuriphila gen. nov., sp. nov., a mesophilic fermentative bacterium isolated from a biodegraded oil reservoir.

A mesophilic, anaerobic, fermentative bacterium, strain BN3(T), was isolated from a producing well of a biodegraded oil reservoir in Canada. Cells were Gram-negative, non-motile rods that did not form spores. The temperature range for growth was 15-40 degrees C, with optimum growth at 37-40 degrees C.