title: Microbial degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons in crude oil: a field-scale study at the low-land rainforest of Ecuador.
abstract: A field-level feasibility study was conducted to determine total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH)-degrading potential of two bacterial strains, Bacillus thuringiensis B3 and B. cereus B6, and two fungi, Geomyces pannorum HR and Geomyces sp. strain HV, all soil isolates obtained from an oil field located in north-east region of Ecuador. Crude oil-treated soil samples contained in wooden boxes received a mixture of all the four microorganisms and were incubated for 90 days in an open low-land area of Amazon rainforest. The percent removal of TPHs in soil samples that received the mixed microbial inoculum was 87.45, indicating the great potential of the soil isolates in field-scale removal of crude oil. The TPHs-degrading efficiency was verified by determining the toxicity of residues, remained in soil after biodegradation, toward viability of Artemia salina or seed germination and plant growth of cowpea. Our results clearly suggest that the selected soil isolates of bacteria and fungi could be effectively used for large-scale bioremediation of sites contaminated with crude oil.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Life Sciences , Universidad Estatal Amazónica , Puyo, Pastaza , Ecuador.|b School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University , Guangzhou , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Naga Raju
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Maddela
authors.affiliation: c Department of Earth Sciences , Universidad Estatal Amazónica , Puyo, Pastaza , Ecuador.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Scalvenzi
authors.affiliation: d Faculty of Life Sciences , Sri Krishnadevaraya University , Anantapur , India.
authors.forename: Kadiyala
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Venkateswarlu
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D004484:Ecuador; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism*; D010578:Petroleum; D065947:Rainforest; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012989:Soil Pollutants
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D010578:Petroleum; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: Artemia salina; Bacillus spp; Geomyces spp; bioremediation; cowpea; ecotoxicity test; soil