Isolation, molecular and biochemical characterization of oil degrading bacteria from contaminated soil at an oil refinery

Biodegradation using microorganisms is considered to be cost-effective and environmentally friendly treatment of oil-contaminated sites. Oil-biodegrading bacterial strains were isolated, identified and characterized from oil contaminated soil samples at oil refinery in Zarqa (Jordan). Thirty four bacterial isolates were grown on mineral salt media supplemented with crude oil, but 16 showed positive biodegradation of diesel. All the 34 bacterial isolates were characterized at the molecular and bio-chemical levels, and showed positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification product size of 1500 bp when 16s rDNA bacterial universal primers were used. Eighteen bacterial isolates showed positive PCR amplification product size of 150 bp specific for the genus Pseudomonas and 3 bacterial isolates showed positive amplification product size of 1500 bp specific for the genus Acinetobacter. Biochemical and physiological characterization performed on the 34 bacterial isolates, revealed the presence of oil biodegrading bacterial genera and species of Pseudomonas Acidovorans, P. aerugi-nosa, P. alcaligenes, P. fluorescens, P. cepacia, P. mallei, P. maltophilia, P. oleovorans, P. putida, P. stutzeri P. vesicularis, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Ac. lowffii, Micro-ococcus luteus , M. varians, M. lylae, M. roseus, Alcaligenes denitrificians, Bacillus megaterium, Comamonas sp., Moraxella sp., Bordetella sp., P. putida, P. stutzeri and P. mallei