Isolation and characterization of biosurfactant producing bacteria from oil contaminated soil

Abstract

Biosurfactants are surface active compound that reduce the interfacial tension between two liquids, or that between a liquid and a solid. Their unique property like nontoxic, easily biodegradable, eco-friendly and high stability, and wide variety of industrial application makes them highly useful group of chemical compound. Biosurfactants are produced from variety of microorganisms. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize the biosurfactant producing bacteria from oil contaminated soil and study of their growth kinetics at different temperature and pH. The isolation and Growth study was carried out in MSM composition using kerosene oil as sole carbon source for bacterial growth. Isolated strain, assigned B1 and B2, were found Gram’s positive and in general Gram’s positive bacteria are able to produce lipopeptides type biosurfactant. Isolated strains were bacillus type. The optimal conditions for bacterial growth were found to be pH 7 and temperature 30°C for strain B1 and pH 8 and temperature 30°C for strain B2.