Response of microbial enzymes syntheses to toxicity of weathered and biodegraded oils

Abstract

The toxicity of eight weathered and biodegraded Nigerian crude oils to the biosyntheses of four bacterial enzymes were examined. The constitutive intracellular enzyme, nitritase was the most sensitive to all toxicants. Two extracellular inducible enzymes tryptophanase and α - glucosidase were less, sensitive to the toxicants. These extracellular enzymes, however, were more sensitive than the intracellular inducible enzyme β - galactosidase. Inhibition of bacterial enzymes syntheses could be a useful, cheap, simple and rapid ecotoxicity assay for monitoring oil pollution in the Nigerian environment. Key words: Sensitivity, Response, Microbial Enzymes, Toxicity, Weathered crude oil, biodegraded crude oil. (Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences: 2003 9(4): 465-474)