Heavy oil degrading Burkholderia and Pseudomonas strains: insights on the degradation potential of isolates and microbial consortia

Abstract

Bacterial strains were isolated from heavy oil degrading microbial consortia enriched from mangrove sediment. Among the 60 distinct isolates that formed colonies on heavy oil as a sole carbon and energy source, Pseudomonas sp. T2B and Burkholderia sp. T2C showed the best growth in heavy oil and in various aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. The two isolates were tested in their abilities to degrade heavy oil. At 1% oil concentration, T2B and T2C degraded 19.6% and 16.7% of heavy oil within 21 days, respectively. These values were significantly lower than that of the source consortium T2, which degraded 24.2% of the oil. This indicates that the consortium is mor superior in degrading heavy oil than any of the isolates. The isolates can be used for biodegradation studies and can be utilized in producing an effective microbial consortium for bioremediation applications.