Isolation and Identification of Oil Degrading Bacteria From Oil Contaminated Soil and Comparison of Their Bioremediation Potential

Chithra. S; Hema Shenpagam. N

Volume : III, Issue : VIII, August - 2014

Isolation and Identification of Oil Degrading Bacteria From Oil Contaminated Soil and Comparison of Their Bioremediation Potential

Chithra. S, Hema Shenpagam. N

Abstract :

Petroleum refineries around the world have generated the solid wastes during the refining process and stocking of crude oil. environment. The ecology of hydrocarbon degradation by microbial populations in the natural environment is reviewed, emphasizing the physical, chemical, and biological factors that contribute to the biodegradation of petroleum and individual hydrocarbons. Oil contaminated soil samples were collected from five different places (Salem Railway shed, Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) of Tamil Nadu. These samples were screened for bacterial oil degradation using 1 % diesel in Nutrient agar medium. Samples were incubated separately in shaking orbital incubator at 37º C at 125 rpm up to 48 hours. Eleven isolates were isolated from five different places, the hydrocarbon degrading bacterial species such as five isolates of Pseudomonas, four isolates of Bacillus and two isolates of Micrococcus were isolated from the oil spilled contaminated soil. The level of petroleum hydrocarbon degradation was determined by gravimetric assay at each 5 days interval. After 25 days of incubation period, Pseudomonas sp. found to degrade oil better than other isolated species. Pseudomonas species degraded 92.3% of oil in 25 days followed by 83.7% of oil degraded by Bacillus species and 35.5% of oil degraded by Micrococcus species. The present investigation shows that Pseudomonas sp. isolated from Kanyakumari sample can be effectively used to degrade oil contaminated soils