Microbial Degradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons: Realities, Challenges and Prospects

One of the emerging environmental challenges today is hydrocarbon pollution arising from activities of petrochemical industries, natural sources of crude oil pollution and other anthropogenic activities. These petroleum products contain harmful, carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds which could have severe consequences on biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem. Physicochemical and biological methods are employed for the remediation of hydrocarbon contaminated systems; however, the negative impacts of the physicochemical approach are presently directing greater attention to the exploitation of the biological alternatives. This article reviews basic concepts of petroleum hydrocarbons, hydrocarbon degrading microorganisms, factors that influence the biodegradation of contaminants and innovative technologies for the effective removal of these pollutants. This article also discusses the applications of relative advances in molecular biological techniques, such as the isolation of plasmid DNA of microbial communities and the use of genetically engineered microorganisms to increase the rates of biodegradation of hydrocarbon pollutants in the environment.