Laboratory based degradation of light crude oil by aquatic phycomycetes

Abstract

Water samples were collected from Dundaye river (an offshoot of sokoto river Rima) using sterile conical flasks. The samples were immediately transported to the Microbiology Laboratory and introduced into petri dishes containing hemp seeds (

Crotalaria juncea) and allowed to stand on the bench. The hemp seeds served as baits, after five days a whitish cottony growth surrounding the seeds was observed. The growth was subcultured in potato dextrose broth (PDB) and incubated at 37°C for 48 h. In the degradation experiment, a minimal medium containing 0.2% of the crude oil as sole source of carbon was prepared in replicates. The results obtained indicate that phycomycetes have a potential use in bioremediation.