ASHRAF Y.Z. KHALIFA AND MUNIRAH F. ALDAYEL
Abstract
Herein, a diesel oil-degrading bacterial strain designated HDK3 was obtained from a soil sample collected from Al Mizan Gas station, Eastern region of Saudi Arabia using the enrichment culture method. The strain was characterized morphologically, phenotypically and genotypically. Besides, the capability of HDK3 to biodegrade diesel oil was estimated using GC-MS analysis. The strain formed a white, convex and an entire colony. The results obtained from the 16s rRNA gene sequencing analysis highlighted that the strain could be identified as Achromobacter pulmonis at an identity level of 98.89%. Observations derived from the Biolog system highlighted that the strain could consume a wide range of carbon and energy sources and grew in presences of many stressors such as NaCl, antibiotics and dyes. Additionally, HDK3 showed an ability to degrade the C14-C19 compounds in diesel as revealed by the Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In conclusion, the strain HDK3 exhibited a metabolic diversity along with its capability to metabolize diesel oil, in that way provides an ecofriendly approach for its exploitation in hydrocarbon bioremediation.