ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BENZENE UTILIZING BACILLUS SPP. FROM PETROLEUM CONTAMINATED SOIL IN KOLKATA, WEST BENGAL, INDIASOURYADEEP MUKHERJEE, ARIJIT DE, NIRMAL KUMAR SARKAR AND NIMAI CHANDRA SAHA
Aerobic degradation of benzene by pure bacterial species has attracted great attention as a plausible tool for alleviation of environmental pollution. In this study, three benzene-degrading bacterial strains designated as Mbnz6a, Benz22 and Benz31a were isolated from the petroleum contaminated soils of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Detailed morphological, biochemical and molecular (16S rDNA sequence) characterization revealed that all of the three bacterial strains belong to genera Bacillus. The 16S Rdna sequences of these bacterial strains were deposited in GenBank database. The isolated strains could grow well in a pH ranging from 7 to 8 and withstand a wide range of temperature from 25Â° C to 50Â° C. This is the first report of isolation of benzene-degrading bacterial species from petroleum-contaminated sites of the densely populated city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India as well as the first description of Bacillus spp. Capable of aerobic-degradation of aromatic hydrocarbon in pure culture. All of these strains utilized benzene as their sole source of carbon and energy and hence proved to be potent benzene degraders in urban localities.
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