My Research

Isolation and Screening of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria from Oil Contaminated Soils in South Korea

Abstract:

Bacteria play a major role for cleaning contaminated environments by degrading petroleum hydrocarbons & other xenobiotic compounds which are toxic. Isolation and screening of bacterial strains which are able to degrade contaminants like crude oils, petroleum hydrocarbons and other recalcitrant compounds help further to develop strategy for cleaning the contaminant sites. In the present study, a transwell plate culture technique is used to isolate bacteria from contaminated soils. 12 isolates have been successfully cultured in mineral salt medium (MSM) containing 1,500 ppm of oil compounds (500 ppm each kerosene, diesel and gasoline) and 600 ppm of hydrocarbons (200 ppm each for C-18, C-20 and C-22) as a sole source of carbon. 16S rDNA sequencing data showed that strains D4, D6, D8, and D10 had 99.60% , 99.46% 99.61% and 99.57% similarity with Pseudomonas chlororaphis subsp. Pisicium JF3835^T , Burkholderia arboris R-24201^T , Acinetobacter oleivorans DR1^T and Raoultella planticola DSM 3069^T, respectively, which could degrade petroleum hydrocarbons. The obtained results suggest that these strains can be applied for the treatment of oil contaminated sites. Further studies are needed and also necessary to focus for the assessment of these strains in the field trial.

Keywords: isolation, screening, total petroleum hydrocarbon, oil-degrading bacteria, transwell plate