Abstract
The Libyan oil industry has left a significant legacy of contamination and methods are required to remediate oil-contaminated soils in the area. In this work hydrocarbon utilizing microorganisms were isolated and identified from contaminated soil samples obtained from an oil Refinery (Zawia, Libya). After initial screening of eleven isolates capable of growth on hexadecane, the five most promising hydrocarbon–utilizing bacteria were isolated and tested for biosurfactant production and emulsification activity. They were identified (using 16S rRNA sequence analysis) as Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas species, Betaproteobacterium, Actinomyces species, and Bacillus species. Among the five species tested, Pseudomonas putida showed superior performance in terms of growth on hydrocarbons (1.0×1010 CFU (ml)), E24 emulsifying activity (86%) and ability to transform hydrocarbons in pure culture. Interestingly, gas chromatographic analysis of crude oil treated with P. putida showed a decrease in heavy hydrocarbon fractions demonstrating a clear potential for this microbe to be used as a soil inoculant in bioremediation.
Highlights
Pollution with petroleum and its products is considered a major problem worldwide due to its impact on human health and the environment
Reddy et al [40] discussed a variety of biological processes which are affected by petroleum products due to their carcinogenicity, pointing out that the toxic compounds of petroleum hydrocarbons are accumulated in tissues, “causing genetic mutations and cell atrophy
The level of hydrocarbons found in the soil samples was very high.The levels of hydrocarbons found in other contaminated site studies are similar and such levels have been subject to bioremediation
Summary
Pollution with petroleum and its products is considered a major problem worldwide due to its impact on human health and the environment. Since the activities of the oil associated industry in Libya have expanded, high levels of hydrocarbon contamination have been recorded at several sites. In particular the Libyan coast, where oil industries are located are affected by serious oil pollution and for the last 40-50 years in the Mediterranean ecosystem, the levels of petroleum hydrocarbon have increased [1]. Additional studies have observed high levels of TPHs in the Gulf of Sirte in the North of Libya and 35000 mg/kg of petroleum hydrocarbons were recorded in soil contaminated by crude oil and petroleum products in the area surrounding the Zawia refinery in the west of Libya [2,15]
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