Abstract
Crude oils, petroleum refinery products, and pure hydrocarbons were oxidized by a considerable number of Desulfovibrio cultures. Substrates in an approx. conc. of 0.1% were consumed rapidly. Insoluble fatty acids were included among the intermediate products of oxidation and were subsequently decomposed by the sulfate reducers. Hydrocarbon oxidation is apparently activated by a dehydro-genase in Desulfovibrio spp. Application of the Thunberg method to pure sulfate-reducing cultures demonstrated a ready transfer of hydrogen from emulsified hydrocarbon to methylene blue. Gum arabic, the emulsifying agent, was not dehydrogenated.

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