Abstract Cocultivation of degrading microorganisms and their antagonists decreases the corrosion loss of carbon steel
by 20 to 80%. It was found that a microorganism can either accelerate or inhibit corrosion, depending on the
nutrient. The magnitude of the effect on corrosion depends on the ability of the microorganism to respond to
changes in the nutrient-medium composition by releasing acidic or alkaline metabolites.
