Degradation of phenanthrene by corynebacterium urealyticum in liquid culture and sand slurry

Most studies on biodegradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) evaluate the degradation potential of indigenous microorganisms in either liquid or solid media. There are limited studies on evaluation of the same microorganisms in degrading PAHs under non-indigenous condition in both liqui...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mohd Kamil, Nor Amani Filzah, Alias, Salina, Othman, Norzila, Abdul-Talib, Suhaimi
Format: Article
Published: Malaysian Society of Soil Science 2013
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Online Access:http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/5839/
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/5839/1/nor_amani_filzah_mohd_kamil_U.pdf
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Summary:Most studies on biodegradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) evaluate the degradation potential of indigenous microorganisms in either liquid or solid media. There are limited studies on evaluation of the same microorganisms in degrading PAHs under non-indigenous condition in both liquid or solid media. This study investigated the potential of the bacteria, Corynebacterium urealyticum isolated from municipal sludge in degrading phenanthrene in both liquid and solid media. The study also evaluated the performance of the strain when subjected to low and high initial concentration of PAHs. Batch experiments were conducted over 20 days in reactors containing artificially contaminated phenanthrene minimal media and sand slurry inoculated with a bacterial culture. Phenanthrene degradation in liquid culture and sand slurry were found to be 82.15% and 27.71%, respectively. The degradation activity of bacteria in liquid culture remained active throughout the duration of the experiment, but this was not the case in the sand slurry. A significant difference was observed in the amount of phenanthrene remaining in the sand slurry when the bacteria was inoculated into the low and high phenanthrene concentrations. Percentages of phenanthrene remaining for both initial concentrations in liquid culture were not significant. From the bacteria growth curve plotted through viable count analysis, it was observed that the bacteria could immediately adapt to PAH-contaminated sand and had better capability to degrade phenanthrene in liquid culture compared to sand slurry.