Novel diesel-oil-degrading bacteria and fungi from the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest

Water Sci Technol. 2015;71(10):1554-61. doi: 10.2166/wst.2015.142.

Abstract

Isolating new diesel-oil-degrading microorganisms from crude-oil contaminated sites and evaluating their degradation capacities are vitally important in the remediation of oil-polluted environments and crude-oil exploitation. In this research, new hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria and fungi were isolated from the crude-oil contaminated soil of the oil-fields in the Amazon rainforest of north-east Ecuador by using a soil enrichment technique. Degradation analysis was tracked by gas chromatography and a flame ionization detector. Under laboratory conditions, maximum degradability of the total n-alkanes reached up to 77.34 and 62.62 removal ratios after 30 days of incubation for the evaporated diesel oil by fungi (isolate-1) and bacteria (isolate-1), respectively. The 16S/18S rDNA sequence analysis indicated that the microorganisms were most closely (99-100%) related to Bacillus cereus (isolate-1), Bacillus thuringiensis (isolate-2), Geomyces pannorum (isolate-1), and Geomyces sp. (isolate-2). Therefore, these strains enable the degradation of hydrocarbons as the sole carbon source, and these findings will benefit these strains in the remediation of oil-polluted environments and oil exploitation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alkanes / metabolism
  • Bacteria / genetics
  • Bacteria / isolation & purification
  • Bacteria / metabolism*
  • Biodegradation, Environmental
  • Fungi / classification
  • Fungi / isolation & purification
  • Fungi / metabolism*
  • Gasoline / analysis
  • Gasoline / microbiology*
  • Hydrocarbons / metabolism
  • Petroleum / metabolism*
  • Rainforest
  • Soil / chemistry
  • Soil Microbiology*
  • Soil Pollutants / metabolism

Substances

  • Alkanes
  • Gasoline
  • Hydrocarbons
  • Petroleum
  • Soil
  • Soil Pollutants