Figure 1. Gel formation on sample waters shaken at 200rpm.
Ever since the result of massive oil spills, bio-remediation
has been an important topic of interest for conserving the natural water
habitat. Bio-remediation can work by finding non-chemical solutions to absorb or
disperse the contaminant. Radwan and colleagues (2017) noted that visco-elastic
gels made up of organic solvents containing biodegrading functions and water
have been forming in the Arabian Gulf. Their study conducted an experiment to
find how the gels were forming. Samples of several water types were tested with
3g of crude oil shaken at 200rpm at 3℃
for 4 months.
The results obtained showed random gel formation, could occur in
any water type with oil present, but needed shaking to form. The bacterial
communities found in the gels were extracted using cultural dependent and
independent methods. The cultural dependent methods resulted in microbial
sterility due to the chemicals found in the test. The cultural independent
method could identify bacteria by expanding the DNA using the 16srDNA gene and
comparing it to those found in a gene bank.
Overall the gels work by trapping the oil found in the water together
and having microbial communities degrade it.
original article:
Radwan SA, Al-Mailem DM, Kansour MK (2017). Gelatinizing oil
in water and its removal via bacteria inhabiting the gels. Nature.com/
Scientific Report. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-14296-x.pdf
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