A Simple Method for Enumerating Gasoline- and Diesel-Degrading Microorganisms

Abstract

A miniaturized most-probable-number method was designed to enumerate specific fuel-degrading populations of microorganisms. The protocol for this method is described for the estimation of populations of total het-erotrophs as well as gasoline- and diesel-degrading microorganisms. We have found the method to be useful for assessing the numbers of specific microbial populations in arctic and subarctic groundwater and soils contaminated by various refined fuel products. The assay is easy to perform and provides one inexpensive indicator of the microbial potential for degradation of contaminants at polluted sites.