Introduction
Statements of Purpose:
The purpose of this experiment is to test the effects of multiple conditions on the growth of the bacterium Alcanivorax Borkumensis which eats oil. The bacterium will be exposed to different levels of salinity, a thick layer of oil, thin layer of oil, and and addition of NPK (nitrogenous supplement). The independent variable is the three different conditions, salt water, thick layer of oil, thin layer of oil, high salinity, low salinity, and nitrogenous supplements (NPK). The dependent variable is the amount of oil left in the petri dish.
Background Research Petroleum is one of the most vital materials needed for petroleum fuel, pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, and plastics (Wang et al., 2015). Due to the fact that petroleum is so widely needed many human resources are used to refine and retrieve petroleum. Not only does this affect the land, but it also affects the ocean because many careless accidents occur throughout history. For example, one of the biggest oil spills in US history was the Deep Horizon…show more content… Although Alcanivorax Borkumensis has the ability to live with low amounts of nutrients, because it normally located in high densities of oil patches it is beneficial to add certain nutrients to act like a catalyst. One of the limiting factors that have been tested specifically for Alcanivorax Borkumensis are nitrogen and phosphorus. Furthermore, it was established through the same experiment that these supplements stimulates the bacteria’s need for oil. Some of the main organic and inorganic nutrients are NPK, (NH4)2, SO4, K2HPO4 and NO3-N (Macaulay, 2014). Since, Alcanivorax is located in a natural environment with constrained resources specifically, phosphorus and nitrogen, therefore it would be beneficial to add these essential supplements to the