Heavy oil-eating microbe grown in lab for the first time
By 
Rebecca Trager2022-01-05T09:30:00
Archaeon that breaks down long alkanes into methane and carbon dioxide could be used for energy recovery from depleted oil reservoirs
A microorganism capable of converting oil into methane has been cultivated by researchers in Germany, China and Spain. The single-celled organism, an archaeon called Candidatus methanoliparum, breaks down oil into methane and carbon dioxide. Unlike other archaea that live on short-chain hydrocarbons like ethane or butane, methanoliparia prefers heavy oil and its long-chain compounds.