Isolation of Marine Bacteria From Visakhapatnam Coast For Degradation of Oil

Abstract

Marine waters are the receivers of many wastes from different sources such as food waste, raw material extraction, recreational use, waste disposal and transportation. In addition to this ship trafficking and industry releases enormous amounts of oil and grease to waters. The aim of the present study was to isolate bacterial strain from marine waters of Visakhapatnam coastal area in order to a strain suitable for the degradation of oil and grease. Many bacterial strains were isolated including Aeromonas hydrophilia, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtiles, Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus.The results showed that the degradation of oil and grease was possible by the application of extracted bacterial isolates. In our study, Bacillus cereus was identified as an efficient degrader of oil and grease compared to other isolates. This study helped to identify native marine bacteria from the polluted site which can be potentially used in biodegradation process of oil and grease.