Bioremediation

Question 1

Oily drill cuttings are

Answer 1

Lubricants and ground rock

Question 2

Oily drill cuttings do not

Answer 2

Biodegrade
Can be tonnes from one drill site
Polluting

Question 3

Definition of biodegradation

Answer 3

The naturally occurring degrading properties of microorganisms

Question 4

Definition of bioremediation

Answer 4

The use of biodegradative processes to detoxify or remove pollutants

Question 5

Biodegradation can be used for

Answer 5

Pollutants in the environment including medicines, pesticides, industry, chemical spills etc.

Question 6

Targets for bioremediation of oil are

Answer 6

Recalcitrant, toxic, polyaromatic compounds

Question 7

How many tonnes of petroleum fractions are introduced into the environment per year?

Answer 7

3.4M

Question 8

Petroleum main routes of entry into environment

Answer 8

Spills/accidents
Natural tar seeps
Landfill (drill cuttings buried)

Question 9

Bioremediation was used in the

Answer 9

Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Question 10

Bioremediation microbes must be chosen

Answer 10

For the environment in which they will work e.g cold or warm seas

Question 11

Alkyltetralins

Answer 11

Most toxic and persistent fraction of oil

Question 12

Bioremediation is designed around microbes that can process

Answer 12

Alkyltetralins

The ‘Hump’ most toxic, most persistent

Question 13

Halophiles

Answer 13

Salt loving microbes

Question 14

Due to the anoxic nature of oily drill cuttings

Answer 14

Degradation is severely reduced

Question 15

Microbes that digest drill cuttings have to deal with

Answer 15

Anaerobic, halophilic, high pressure and toxic environment

Question 16

Halophiles are

Answer 16

Extremophiles

Question 17

Two types of hypersaline environments

Answer 17

1. Athalassohaline

2. Thalassohaline

Question 18

Athalassohaline

Answer 18

e.g. Dead Sea

Enclosed waters

Question 19

Thalassohaline

Answer 19

Marine waters

Question 20

Solar salterns can be used

Answer 20

To mine for halophiles

Question 21

Solar salterns are

Answer 21

Convenient systems for analyzing and interpreting biogeo-chemical trends through salinity gradients or between comparable salinities of different localities

Question 22

Halophiles are part of

Answer 22

Archaea

Question 23

The red colour of halophilic archaea is due to

Answer 23

C50 carotenoids

Question 24

Ancient brine from the Gyda oil field in the North Sea was used

Answer 24

To isolate microbes that could break down oil fractions

Question 25

Characterisation of microbes was done by

Answer 25

16S RNA analysis

Isolated then phylogenetic analysis

Question 26

Gyda oil haloarchaea are closely related to

Answer 26

Great Salt Lake archaea (16S)

Question 27

AlkB

Answer 27

Enzyme important in degradation pathway in archaea

Question 28

Pseudomonas putida is used as a

Answer 28

Control for the effectiveness of degradation by other bacteria (it has AlkB)

Question 29

AlkB is responsible for the

Answer 29

Alkane hydroxilase enzyme