ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF DIESEL DEGRADING BACTERIA FROM PETROLEUM OIL CONTAMINATED SOIL

Diesel degradation by bacteria

Abstract

Petroleum products are used for energy production and an essential part of our day-to-day lives especially in vehicles, ships, and industries. Accidental leakages occur easily and wastage petroleum is also discarded in the environment without any further processing causing environmental pollution. Diesel contributea big part topetroleum pollution. The current study was aimed to identify diesel degrading bacteria and determine some conditions to evaluate their best degradation capability. We identified Aeromonas spp., Bacillus spp., and Enterobacter spp. from diesel contaminated soil and found that Aeromonas spp. and Bacillus spp. grow best with 10% to 15% diesel whereas Enterobacter spp. can grow quite well with 20% diesel concentration at a higher temperature (40^oC) than the previous two bacteria. Aeromonas spp. worked well at low pH (pH 4 to pH 6) whereas Bacillus spp. and Enterobacter spp. worked best at higher pH (pH 10).