Growth Dynamics of Bacteria Isolated from Spent Engine Oil Contaminated Tropical Soil

Sites contaminated with spent oil in Canaan land Ota Nigeria were screened for the presence of spent oil degrading bacteria. The method of continual enrichment on the spent oil yielded five pure cultures that were selected for further physiological studies. From the morphological and biochemical characterization and comparison with respect to the standard references, the isolates were most likely the members of the genera Acinetobacter, Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Mycobacterium and Pseudomonas species. Time course studies of these organisms on the spent oil monitored by OD and pH fluxes resulted in exponential increases in the turbidity and steady declines in the pH. The mean OD obtained was 0.147±0.052-1.591±0.320 with pH 7.31±0.01-6.30±0.03. From the study, it was evident that bacterial species in tropical ecosystem can be explored for the recovery of sites polluted with spent engine oil