Revista de biorremediación y biodegradación

Abstracto

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is Present in Crude Oil Contaminated Sites of Barmer Region (India)

Bharti Prakash and Mohammad Irfan

Purpose: Refinery effluent and oil spills are the major sources of oil pollution. Diverse microbial population including Bacteria, Fungi and Algae can metabolize the hydrocarbons found in crude oil. Among the microorganisms bacteria are usually the choice. The aims of present study are

• Isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from crude oil contaminated sites of Barmer Region (India)

• Identification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on the basis of its specific characteristics

Methods: Oil contaminated soil samples were collected randomly from five different sites of Mangala oil field in Barmer district (India), where huge amount of crude oil has been discovered by Cairns India Energy Company. Isolation was carried out by serial dilution agar platting method at 37˚C using Bushnell-Haas agar medium+crude oil as selective medium.

• Results: The Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonies were identified by a combination of information from primary and secondary identification. Morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics of pure isolates revealed that Gram-negative rods isolate were Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

• Conclusions: Previous observations have identified the Pseudomonas genus most efficient among hydrocarbon degrading microorganisms. Further, the use of surfactants specially, rhamnolipids has been found to enhance degradation of crude oil. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a typical strain for rhamnolipid production and can utilize crude oil as the sole carbon source. Data from this study showed the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the oil contaminated soil and lend weight to this suggestion that Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibit oil degrading capabilities.