Desulfococcus oleovorans Strain Hxd3

Desulfococcus oleovorans Strain Hxd3 was isolated from the saline water phase of an oil-water separator from a northern German oil field (Aeckersberg et al. 1991, 1998). Hxd3 is a delta-proteobacterium capable of utilizing C12-C20 alkanes as growth substrates (Aeckersberg et al. 1991, 1998). Hxd3 activates alkanes via carboxylation at C3, with subsequent elimination of the terminal and subterminal carbons, yielding a fatty acid that is one carbon shorter than the parent alkane (So et al. 2003). Hxd3 is the ONLY pure culture that is known to carboxylate aliphatic hydrocarbons.

The genome of Desulfococcus oleovorans is currently being sequenced by the Joint Genome Institute. Sequencing is paid for by a Department of Energy grant to Boris Wawrik et al. at Rutgers University.