EFFECTIVE REMOVAL OF ALKANES AND POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS BY BACTERIA FROM SOIL CHRONICALLY EXPOSED TO CRUDE PETROLEUM OIL
Eman Afkar, A.M. HAFEZ, Romany Ibrahim, M. ALDAYEL
Abstract
AramcoS2 and AramcoS4 are two bacterial strains that were isolated from oil-contaminated soil and able to degrade crude petroleum.The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique was used to identify residues of petroleum after biodegradation.The two isolates were able reduce the concentration of long-chain n-alkanes of C10 to C20; (n-decane, n-undecane, n-dodecane, n-tridecane, ntetradecane, n-pentadecane, n-hexadecane, n-heptadecane, n-octadecane n-nonadecane, and n-eicosane) on average by 77% of the original concentration.They were also able to degrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including biphenyl, naphthalene, and anthracene on average by 67% of the original concentration within 7 and 14 days of incubation at 30ºC, pH=6.8±0.2.AramcoS2 and S4 were classified as Actinobacteria based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences (GenBank accession numbers are; AramcoS2; MN142506 and AramcoS4; MN142551).They should be of great practical significance both in the bioremediation of soil contaminated with petroleum and the bio-treatment of oil spills on surface water.