A preliminary study was undertaken to determine the optimal conditions for the biodegradation of a crude oil. Among 57 oil-degrading bacterial cultures isolated from oil-contaminated soil samples, Bacillus sp. IOS1-7, Corynebacterium sp. BPS2-6, Pseudomonas sp. HPS2-5, and Pseudomonas sp. BPS1-8 were selected for the study based on the efficiency of crude oil utilization. Along with the selected individual strains, a mixed bacterial consortium prepared using the above strains was also used for degradation studies. The mixed bacterial consortium showed more growth and degradation than did individual strains. At 1% crude oil concentration, the mixed bacterial consortium degraded a maximum of 77% of the crude oil. This was followed by 69% by Pseudomonas sp. BPS1-8, 64% by Bacillus sp. IOS1-7, 45% by Pseudomonas sp. HPS2-5, and 41% by Corynebacterium sp. BPS2-6. The percentage of degradation by the mixed bacterial consortium decreased from 77 to 45% as the concentration of crude oil was increased from 1 to 12%. Temperature of 358C and pH 7 were found to be optimum for maximum degradation.

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