Isolation and Characterization of Hydrocarbon Degrading Bacterial Isolate from Oil Contaminated Sites

AbstractPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of toxic environmental pollutants that have accumulated in the environment due to a variety of anthropogenic activities. We isolated 14 different bacteria from various petroleum contaminates sites, using enrichment technique, and studied for utilization of various hydrocarbons. The bacteria were capable to grow on various hydrocarbon like diesel, petrol, lubricating oil, toluene, naphthalene and kerosene. The tests were conducted to detect the biodegradation of diesel, by a monooxygenase biodegradation pathway, and it was observed that diesel was degraded within 12hours. Gram negative bacterial isolate RP12 was found to be the best isolate growing on majority of hydrocarbons and degrading diesel