Improved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degradation in a crude oil by individual and a consortium of bacteria

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 254; pp. 174 - 179
• Main Authors: Kumari, Smita, Regar, Raj Kumar, Manickam, Natesan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-04-2018
• Subjects: Bacterial consortium; Biosurfactant; Crude oil; HMW- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Biosurfactant; Bacterial consortium; HMW- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Crude oil
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.01.075

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•The bacteria isolated and characterized have ability to biodegrade multiple PAHs.•Development of five-member bacterial consortium for the HMW-PAH degradation.•A Rhamnolipid JBR−425 biosurfactant enhanced the PAH biodegradation up to 10–15%.
In this study, we report the ability of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Ochrobactrum anthropi, Pseudomonas mendocina, Microbacterium esteraromaticum and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to degrade multiple polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in crude oil. The PAHs in the crude oil sample obtained from Digboi oil refinery, India were estimated to be naphthalene (10.0 mg L−1), fluorene (1.9 mg L−1), phenanthrene (3.5 mg L−1) and benzo(b)fluoranthene (6.5 mg L−1). Exposure of individual bacteria to crude oil showed high rate of biodegradation of specific PAHs by M. esteraromaticum, 81.4%-naphthalene; P. aeruginosa, 67.1%-phenanthrene and 61.0%-benzo(b)fluoranthene; S. maltophilia, 47.9%-fluorene in 45 days. However, consortium of these bacteria showed enhanced biodegradation of 89.1%-naphthalene, 63.8%-fluorene, 81% of phenanthrene and 72.8% benzo(b)fluoranthene in the crude oil. The degradation was further improved up to 10% by consortium on addition of 40 μg mL−1 rhamnolipid JBR-425 biosurfactant. These results suggest that the developed bacterial consortium has significant potential in PAH remediation.