Hydrocarbon Degradation Potentials of Indigenous Fungal Isolates from Petroleum Contaminated Soils

Twelve fungal isolates recovered from oil-contaminated soils were screened for crude oil biodegradation activity in a shake-flask culture. Among the twelve fungal isolates, only eight showed potentials for biodegradation. Of these eight isolates, two of them identified as Aspergillus versicolor and Aspergillus niger which exhibited the fastest onset and highest extent of biodegradation were selected for further study on specific polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) biodegradation. Both isolates exhibited above 98 % degradation efficiency for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon moieties when grown in a culture medium incorporated with 1 % crude oil (hydrocarbon) and 0.1 %Tween 80 for 7 days