Biotransformation of alkanes and haloalkanes by a marine amoeba

Summary A marine amoeba, Trichosphaerium I-7, originally found feeding on macroalgae in a region of natural oil seepage, was maintained in the laboratory for prolonged periods on hexadecane, octadecane, 1-chlorooctadecane, or 1-bromooctadecane as a carbon source. The cells attached readily and eroded holes in thin layers of these compounds. Crystalline and clear spherical inclusions appeared in the cytoplasm of cells fed these xenobiotics followed by a marked cell darkening. Thin layer chromatographic analyses of acetone extracts from amoebae grown for 12 days on 1-¹⁴C]octadecane demonstrated the formation of labelled substances of higher polarity than the original alkane. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by autoradiography revealed that ¹⁴C derived from 1-¹⁴C]octadecane was incorporated into acetone-insoluble macromolecules.Offprint requests to: D. D. Kaska