A feasibility study on seeding as a bioremediation practice for the oily Kuwaiti desert

Immediately after a simulated oil spill, and for 28 weeks, Kuwaiti desert samples became steadily enriched with one specific, indigenous, oil‐degrading Arthrobacter strain, KCC 201. Other indigenous oil degraders, including other Arthrobacter strains, either remained unchanged at low numbers or steadily disappeared. The partial hydrocarbon degradation in the polluted samples was primarily due to the indigenous, actively propagating Arthrobacter strain. Seeding the 28‐week‐old polluted samples with local or foreign oil‐degrading isolates did not lead to enhancement of hydrocarbon degradation and resulted in dramatic decreases in the numbers of the predominant, indigenous, oil‐degrading Arthrobacter strain, KCC 201. Some of the seeded organisms, particularly the foreign isolates, failed to establish themselves in the polluted samples, apparently because of microbial competition.