ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MICROORGANISMS ASSOCIATED WITH BIOREMEDIATION OF HYDOCARBON POLLUTED SITES

Abstract: 

The negative impacts of hydrocarbon pollutants on our environments and economic resources cannot be overemphasized. The need to harness the bioremediation potentials of microorganisms associated with hydrocarbon pollution becomes very imperative in order to mitigate the environmental impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons in our environments. The molecular identification of the microorganisms isolated from four automobile workshops at Ugbene 2 Abakpa Nike, Enugu, Nigeria based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the major bacterial isolates were Acinetobacter spp, Pseudomonas mendocina, Pseudomonas alcaligenes, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Burkholderia spp, Cellulomonas spp, and Geobacillus stearothermophilus while the fungal isolates were Aspergillus niger and Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Pseudomonas species appeared to be more rampart in all the petroleum contaminated sites than other bacterial isolates. The result of molecular and biochemical characterization showed that there was high significant positive correlation (P < 0.05) between the level of contamination and the number of genotypes containing genes from Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter species. The results of biological activities showed significant positive correlation with the organic matter content (P < 0.05). The isolates are efficient hydrocarbon scavengers and when properly harnessed can be applied in cleanup and bioremediation of oil spillages especially n-alkanes and aromatic compounds in both land and marine environments to reduce the negative impacts of hydrocarbon pollution