Isolation & Characterization of Hydrocarbon Degrading Bacteria: A Bio-remedial Approach to Clean-up Oil Spills

Hydrocarbon contamination is one of the major environmental problems due to oil spillage, automobile waste, and other industrial waste. Crude oil is the major source of energy for industrial, agricultural, and domestic use. Indian agriculture is largely dependent upon petroleum-driven technology for power generation, harvesting and post-harvest processing. Oil spillage occurs at oil wells and rigs during the drilling, production, refining, transport, and storage of petroleum. The release and accumulation of hydrocarbons in the environment is the main cause for concern due to the health hazards it poses to all forms of life and the environment. Commonly used approaches involve physical, biological, and chemical methods. Most of the technologies are expensive and not very efficient to deal with recalcitrant pollutants. The present study deals with the bioremediation of crude oil. The study involved the collection of surface soil of the spillage/contaminated area to isolate and identify the oil-degrading bacteria. Bacteria were isolated and grown on MSM-agar medium containing crude oil as a carbon source in Petri-dishes. The isolated strain of bacteria was effective in the biodegradation of oil in 28 days. The samples were analysed using GC-FID which demonstrated efficient degradation of oil by the isolated microbe. The hydrocarbon degraders were identified as Gram-negative cocci bacteria. The isolated bacteria could serve as a cost-effective and efficient alternative for microbial degradation of hydrocarbon pollutants in soil and water in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner.