Enhancing the biodegradation of oil in sandy sediments with choline.

We investigated how additions of choline, a naturally occurring methylated nitrogen-containing com-pound, accelerated hydrocarbon degradation in sandy sediments contaminated with moderately weathered crude oil (4000 mg kg?1 sediment). Addition of lauroylcholine chloride (LCC) and tricholine citrate (TCC) to oil contaminated sediments resulted in 1.6 times higher hydrocarbon degradation rates compared to treatments without added choline derivatives. However, the degradation rate constant for the oil contaminated sediments amended with LCC was similar to that in contaminated sediments amended with inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus, and glucose. Additions of LLC and TCC to sediments containing extensively weathered oil also resulted in enhanced mineralization rates.本研究探讨了天然存在的甲基化含氮化合物——胆碱（choline）的添加，对中度风化原油污染（污染负荷为4000 mg·kg⁻¹沉积物）的沙质沉积物中烃类降解过程的加速作用。向受原油污染的沉积物中添加氯化月桂酰胆碱（Lauroylcholine Chloride, LCC）与柠檬酸三胆碱（Tricholine Citrate, TCC）后，其烃类降解速率较未添加胆碱衍生物的处理组提升1.6倍。不过，添加LCC的原油污染沉积物的降解速率常数，与添加无机氮、磷及葡萄糖的污染沉积物的降解速率常数相近。向含有深度风化原油的沉积物中添加LCC与TCC，同样可提升其矿化速率。