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Biodegradation of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons: Specificity among bacteria isolated from refinery waste sludge

Katsivela Eleftheria, Moore Edward R. B., Kalogerakis Nikos

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Summary

Indigenous microorganisms, enriched and isolated from refinery waste sludge, were observed to possess a broad range of metabolic activities for mixtures of several classes of substrates of petroleum hydrocarbons, such as monoaromatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and n- and branched alkanes. Three of the best-growing bacterial isolates selectively enriched with these compounds were identified by 16S rDNA sequencing as belonging to the genera Enterobacter and Ochrobactrum. Two of them, Enterobacter sp. strain EK3.1 and Ochrobactrum sp. strain EK6 utilise a hydrocarbon mixture of the branched alkane 2,6,10,14-tetramethylpentadecane and the PAHs acenaphthylene and acenaphthene. Enterobacter sp. strain EK4 can grow with a mixture of 2,6,10,14-tetramethylpentadecane, toluene, acenaphthylene and acenaphthene as carbon sources. Nucleic acid fingerprint analysis, by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) of the PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes, of the autochthonous bacterial community in contaminated soil samples showed complex and different community structures under different treatments of refinery waste sludge in landfarm areas. The characteristic peaks of the T-RFLP profiles of the individual, isolated degrading bacteria Enterobacter spp. and Ochrobactrum sp. were detected in the T-RFLP fingerprint of the bacterial community of the four months old treated landfarm soil, suggesting the enrichment of bacteria belonging to the same operational taxonomic units, as well as their importance in degrading activity.

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