Isolation and characterization of a diesel-degrading bacterium, Gordonia sp. SD8

A diesel-degrading bacterium, Gordonia sp. SD8, was isolated from soil contaminated with petroleum, and its diesel degradation was characterized in a soil as well as a liquid culture system. SD8 could grow in the mineral salt medium supplemented with diesel as a sole carbon and energy source. The maximum specific growth rate (0.67±0.05 d^-1) and diesel degradation rate (1,727±145 mg-TPH L^-1 d^-1) of SD8 showed at 20,000 mg-TPH L^-1 and 30°C, and then this bacterium could degrade high strength of diesel of 40,000 mg-TPH L^-1. The residual diesel concentration in the inoculated soil with SD8 was 3,724 mg-TPH kg-dry soil ^-1 after 17 days, whereas the diesel concentration in the non-inoculated soil was 8,150±755 mg-TPH kg-dry soil^-1. These results indicate that Gordonia sp. SD8 can serve as a promising microbial resource for the bioremediaion of contaminated soil with petroleum hydrocarbons including diesel.