Production and Characterization of Biosurfactant from Corynebacterium Species and Its Effect on the Growth of Petroleum Degrading Bacteria

Abstract

Present study was carried out to isolate the effective bacterial strains for the degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons and biosurfactant production. The bacterial strains were screened for production of biosurfactant by CTAB methylene blue agar assay, hemolytic activity assay and drop collapse assay. The selected strain was identified as Corynebacterium species by 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Biosurfactant was characterized using thin layer chromatographic analysis revealed that the biosurfactant may be glycolipids which have different functional groups viz: alkenes, carboxylic acids and aliphatic amines. GC-MS analysis confirmed that the biosurfactant was 13-docosenamide (z). Biosurfactant also induces the growth of petroleum degrading bacteria i.e. Corynebacterium species. The results proved that the maximum growth was found at 96 h with biosurfactant (13-docosenamide (z)) and 144 h without biosurfactant. The study reflected the potential use of this biosurfactant for petroleum degradation and its application for in situ bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons contaminated sites.