Isolation and Characterization of Potent Biosurfactant Producing Bacteria from Petroleum Contaminated Soil and Sea Water

Abstract

Biosurfactant are surface active biomolecules possessing unique and beneficial properties as compared to the synthetic ones. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterized potent biosurfactant producing bacteria from petroleum contaminated soil samples and sea water samples. Sunflower oil was used as a sole source of carbon for the bacterial growth. In all 39 oil degrading bacteria were recovered from six different sites in Mumbai which were subjected to biosurfactant screening tests. After performing various qualitative and quantitative tests, SWSF1 strain, identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, reduced surface tension of media by 32% and exhibited potent biosurfactant producing ability. Chemically it was found to be rhamnolipid type. As this bacterium gave high yields of biosurfactant it can be possible to use this isolate for industrial production of rhamnolipids.