Evaluation of crude oil biodegradation efficiency and peroxidase production by Streptomyces albus

Abstract

The disadvantages associated with conventional treatment of crude oil pollution have led to the development of alternative, economical and reliable biological treatments. In this study, six actinobacterial isolates were obtained from 120cm soil depth of a selected crude oil contaminated site in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Streptomyces albus was selected from the six isolates based on its comparative ability to growth on crude oil and was investigated for its ability to degrade varying concentration of crude oil (1.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 7.5 %) and produce peroxidase during the biodegradation period. Increase in biomass enhanced degradation efficiency above 80 % after 10 days for all concentration of crude oil studied. Peroxidase production increased maximally during the log phase of growth with a maximum production of (3.01 U/L) on day 10 for 3% crude oil and (2.08 U/L) for 5% crude oil medium on day 12. These remarkable properties displayed by Streptomyces albus in this study showed how tolerant and efficient this actinobacterial isolate was toward varying concentration of crude oil vis-à-vis the production of peroxidase.

Keywords: Biodegradation, Peroxidase, crude oil, Bioremediation, Streptomyces albus