Study of a hydrocarbon-utilizing and emulsifier-producing Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strain isolated from heating oil.

Twenty bacterial strains were isolated from a sample of contaminated heating oil and screened for their ability to use petroleum and several common fuels as the sole source of carbon and energy. One of the isolates, named MM5, was able to grow on petroleum derivatives and brought about an emulsification of those compounds. Gas chromatography studies showed that strain MM5 was able to degrade hydrocarbons of heating oil. MM5 has been tentatively identified as a strain of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus. The fine structure of MM5 was examined by transmission electron microscopy. Incubation in the presence of hydrocarbon substrates resulted in the development of intracellular electron-transparent inclusions. These structures were absent in the non-hydrocarbon cultures studied.