N. R. SADHANA, MOHAMMED ADNAN, M. ROHINI KUMAR AND JABEZ W. OSBORNE
Abstract
Rapid industrialisation has led to increased hydrocarbons usage which in turn potentially contaminates the soil. To remediate these contaminants, eco-friendly techniques like biostimulation and bioaugmentation are generally considered. This gave us the hypothesis on Isolation and Characterization of Hydrocarbon degrading Bacteria and Fungi. The soil samples contaminated with hydrocarbon was obtained and processed within 4 hours after collection. The samples were serially diluted and inoculated onto Bushnell-Haas Agar media which mainly consists of mineral salts. Under sterile conditions, 200 μL of hydrocarbon was added to the media onto which 100 μL of the inoculum was spread. The petri plates were incubated at room temperature, fungal and bacterial colonies were observed in both 10-5 and 10-6 dilutions after 7 days of incubation. The isolates were preserved in the same medium for further studies which includes identification of fungi and bacteria and the amount of hydrocarbon degraded will be analysed quantitatively using solvent extraction and gravimetric method.