Enrichment of water from a contaminated site in a textile industry in Ikeja resulted in the isolation of two
bacteria belonging to the genera Alcaligenes and Cellulomonas. These bacteria were able to mineralize
para-chloroaniline (p-chloroaniline). Time course degradation of p-chloroaniline using pure cultures of
these organisms showed that p-chloroaniline supported the growth of these isolates. An initial increase
in cell densities of 7.50-9.46 cfu/mL was recorded from day 0-9th day for Cellulomonas sp. while for
Alcaligenes denitrificans it was 7.20-9.40 cfu/mL. After day 9, a decrease in population occurred,
indicating non-availability of nutrients or toxicity of the medium. Simultaneously, a decrease in the pH,
indicative of increased acidity of the medium, was also observed from the first day. The result of the GC
analysis of the pure isolates on p-chloroaniline shows that 86.5% of the p-chloroaniline was degraded
by the Cellulomonas sp. while 81.2% was degraded by the A. denitrificans in 30 days. These bacterial
isolates utilized other hydrocarbons such as pyrene, anthracene, crude oil and chlorobenzoates as sole
source of carbon and energy but not phenanthrene, naphthalene and biphenyl. The two isolates
tolerated NaCl concentration of up to 5%
