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 language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 605-612 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 4 |
State | Published - Apr 2006 |
Keywords
- Bioremediation
- Crude oil
- Halotolerance
- Psychrotroph
- Rhodococcus