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Biodegradation of Diesel, Crude Oil and Spent Lubricating Oil by Soil Isolates of Bacillus spp.

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Abstract

Two species of Bacillus, B. thuringiensis B3 and B. cereus B6, isolated from crude oil-contaminated sites in Ecuador, were tested for their capability in degrading polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in diesel (shake-flask), and to remove total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) from crude oil- or spent lubricating oil-polluted soils (plot-scale). TPHs and PAHs were analyzed by Gas chromatography-Flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), respectively. Degradation percentages of PAHs by strain B6 were in the range of 11–83 after 30 days. A mixed culture of both the strains removed 84% and 28% of TPHs from crude oil- and spent lubricating oil-polluted soils, respectively. Reduction in the abundance of total n-alkane fractions (C8–C40) of spent lubricating oil was 94%, which was 18% higher than the control. Our results clearly indicate that the selected strains have great potential in degrading petroleum hydrocarbons at both laboratory- and field-scales.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by Secretaría Nacional de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENESCYT-Ecuador) Prometeo research project during 2013–2015.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences, Universidad Estatal Amazónica, Puyo, Pastaza, 160150, Ecuador

    Maddela Naga Raju & Rodriguez Leo

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Universidad Estatal de Bolívar, Guaranda, Bolívar, 020150, Ecuador

    Sanaguano Salguero Herminia

  3. Faculty of Life Sciences, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur, 515055, India

    Kadiyala Venkateswarlu

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, Universidad Estatal Amazónica, Puyo, Pastaza, 160150, Ecuador

    Ricardo Ernesto Burgos Morán & Scalvenzi Laura

Authors
  1. Maddela Naga Raju
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  2. Rodriguez Leo
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  3. Sanaguano Salguero Herminia
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  4. Ricardo Ernesto Burgos Morán
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  5. Kadiyala Venkateswarlu
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  6. Scalvenzi Laura
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Correspondence to Maddela Naga Raju.

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Raju, M.N., Leo, R., Herminia, S.S. et al. Biodegradation of Diesel, Crude Oil and Spent Lubricating Oil by Soil Isolates of Bacillus spp.. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 98, 698–705 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-017-2039-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-017-2039-0

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