Abstract
Twenty seven hydrocarbon degrading bacterial isolates were isolated from five hydrocarbon contaminated sites. The study revealed a high efficiency of bacteria adapted to the biodegradation of hydrocarbons (petroleum) isolated from soil contaminated with oil residues. The isolates were examined for their hydrocarbon degradation in media supplemented with crude oil at five different concentrations 2% 3% 5%, 7% and 10% incubated for 5 different time intervals 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 days. The results indicated that all the isolates possessed potential to degrade the wide variety of hydrocarbons. The most efficient among them was SD1 which degraded most tested hydrocarbon (98%) showing maximum growth at 3.3 gm/l of biomass concentration and 15 days incubation. SD1 isolate was identified on the basis of morphological and biochemical characteristics and confirmed with 16s rRNA sequencing. GCMS Analysis showed significant differences in the composition of hydrocarbons in Crude oil. It could be concluded that native flora of hydrocarbon contaminated site adapt to the environmental condition and could be implicated to remove hydrocarbons.
