Isolation and characterization of psychrotrophic and halotolerant Rhodococcus sp. YHLT-2

Hee Wook Ryu, Yang Hee Joo, Youn Joo An, Kyung Suk Cho

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

A psychrotrophic bacterium was isolated from oil-contaminated groundwater and identified as Rhodococcus sp. YHLT-2. Growth was observed at the temperature of 4 to 30°C. This strain degraded various petroleum hydrocarbons such as crude oil, diesel oil, and gasoline over the whole range of temperatures tested. The Rhodococcus sp. YHLT-2 was capable of growing even at 4°C, exhibiting 90% of oil biodegradation after 20 days. Degradation of crude oil occurred at low temperature in nature. This strain was also able to grow at 7% NaCl, and utilized not only short chain alkenes (C9 to C12), but also a broad range of long chain alkenes (C19 to C32) present in crude oil at 4°C. The Rhodococcus sp. YHLT-2 is expected to be of potential use in the in situ bioremediation of hazardous hydrocarbons under low-temperature and high-salt conditions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)605-612
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
Volume16
Issue number4
StatePublished - Apr 2006

Keywords

  • Bioremediation
  • Crude oil
  • Halotolerance
  • Psychrotroph
  • Rhodococcus

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Isolation and characterization of psychrotrophic and halotolerant Rhodococcus sp. YHLT-2'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this