Environmental Microbiology (2008) 10(5), 1380–1381
Web Alert
Biodegradation of fuel components
An annotated selection of World Wide Web sites relevant
to the topics in Environmental Microbiology
Biodegradability of biodiesel
http://www.uidaho.edu/bioenergy/BiodieselEd/publication/
04.pdf
This web page describes the results of a study comparing
the biodegradability of biodiesel and conventional petro-
leum diesel fuels.
Biodegradation of jet fuels
http://www.p2pays.org/ref/15/14755.pdf
This web page discusses the impact of plants on the
biodegradation of jet fuel, and the effects of jet fuels on
plant growth.
Leaking underground storage tanks
http://www.epa.gov/ORD/lrp/quickfinder/underground-
storagetanks.htm
There are over 450,000 leaks from underground fuel
storage tanks annually. Microorganisms are principally
responsible for the dissipation of the fuel hydrocarbons
over time.
Oil spill cleanup
http://www.epa.gov/ORD/lrp/quickfinder/oilspill-cleanup.
htm
About 10-25 million gallons of oil are spilled annually. This
Environmental Protection Agency website seeks to
provide information relevant to oil cleanup.
Bibliography for the fuel oxygenate MTBE
http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/284493.html
This web page contains an extensive list of linked
references relevant to methyl-t-butyl ether (MBTE),
© 2008 The Author
Journal compilation © 2008 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd
doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01629.
a major fuel additive that has become an environmental
problem.
Petroleum biodegradation
http://www.geoforschungszentrum.de/pb4/pg3/projects/
Biodegradation_of_petroleum/content_en.html
This web page provides an excellent primer on microbial
biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons.
BTEX issues
http://www.eugris.info/FurtherDescription.asp?e=6&
Ca=2&Cy=0&T=Benzene,%20toluene,%20ethylbenzene,
%20and%20xylene
This web page provides data on the BTEX compounds in
petroleum: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes.
BTEX metabolism metapathway map
http://umbbd.msi.umn.edu/BTEX/BTEX_map.html
This web page provides an overview of the aerobic and
anaerobic microbial metabolic pathways that operate in
the biodegradation of BTEX compounds found in fossil
fuels.
Biodegradation of alkylated dibenzothiophenes
http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jbb/101/4/101_322/
_article
This web article describes the microbial degradation of
alkyl-substituted dibenzothiophenes, which are common
components in petroleum.
Dibenzothiophene desulfurization pathway
http://umbbd.msi.umn.edu/dbt/dbt_map.html
This web page illustrates how microbes catalytically
remove the sulfur atom from dibenzothiophenes. There
has been interest in commercializing this process to
remove sulfur from fossil fuels.
 Web alert 1381

MTBE pathway map degraded by microorganisms when it is spilled into the

environment. The reactions, enzymes and organisms are
http://umbbd.msi.umn.edu/mtb/mtb_map.html
described in pages linked from the pathway map.
The MTBE metabolic map contains information on the
mechanisms by which the fuel oxygenate, methyl-t-butyl Lawrence P. Wackett
ether (MTBE), is biodegraded. McKnight Professor and Head
Microbial Biochemistry and Biotechnology
Isooctane pathway map Department of Biochemistry
Molecular Biology and Biophysics
http://umbbd.msi.umn.edu/iso/iso_map.html
University of Minnesota
Isooctane is considered the gold standard of fuels for St Paul, MN 55108, USA
spark ignition engines. This branched hydrocarbon is bio-

© 2008 The Author

Journal compilation © 2008 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Environmental Microbiology, 10, 1380–1381