Biodegradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons by <i>Pseudomonas putida</i> Strain MHF 7109: Fid-Bau Portal

Biodegradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons by Pseudomonas putida Strain MHF 7109

Singh, Dipty / Fulekar, Madhusudan H.

10.1002/clen.200900239.abs

Pseudomonas putida MHF 7109 has been isolated and identified from cow dung microbial consortium for biodegradation of selected petroleum hydrocarbon compounds – benzene, toluene, and o‐xylene (BTX). Each compound was applied separately at concentrations of 50, 100, 250, and 500 mg L⁻¹ in minimal salt medium to evaluate degradation activity of the identified microbial strain. The results indicated that the strain used has high potential to degrade BTX at a concentration of 50 mg L⁻¹ within a period of 48, 96, and 168 h, respectively; whereas the concentration of 100 mg L⁻¹ of benzene and toluene was found to be completely degraded within 120 and 168 h, respectively. Sixty‐two percent of o‐xylene were degraded within 168 h at the 100 mg L⁻¹ concentration level. The maximum degradation rates for BTX were 1.35, 1.04, and 0.51 mg L⁻¹ h⁻¹, respectively. At higher concentrations (250 and 500 mg L⁻¹) BTX inhibited the activity of microorganisms. The mass spectrometry analysis identified the intermediates as catechol, 2‐hydroxymuconic semialdehyde, 3‐methylcatechol, cis‐2‐hydroxypenta‐2,4‐dienoate, 2‐methylbenzyl alcohol, and 1,2‐dihydroxy‐6‐methylcyclohexa‐3,5‐dienecarboxylate, for BTX, respectively. P. putida MHF 7109 has been found to have high potential for biodegradation of volatile petroleum hydrocarbons.