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Biosurfactant Production by Strains of Azospirillum Isolated from Petroleum-Contaminated Sites

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Abstract

Some microorganisms can produce biotensoactive when in contact with hydrocarbons, which favours micelle formation, allowing microbial cells to metabolise them effectively. In this study, we evaluated the capacity of nitrogen-fixing (NFB) and hydrocarbonoclastic bacterial strains to generate biotensoactive. The sampling site was in a flood plain of the Chico Zapote River, on the low basin of the Tonalá River in Tabasco, Mexico. Rhizospheres and soil contaminated by oil were collected, and the concentration of oil and botanic samples were determined for their taxonomic classification. The collected rhizosphere oil was seeded into Congo red cultures to obtain Azospirillum (NFB) bacteria. The NFB strain was placed in liquid mineral medium with oil as the only carbon source to identify the hydrocarbonoclastic strains. Biochemical and physiological evaluations determined that the species were Azospirillum brasilense and Azospirillum lipoferum. The strains were placed into Kim medium for generating a biosurfactant. The biosurfactant produced by A. brasilense showed an emulsion stability of 229 min, yield of 0.1375 g L−1, emulsion capacity of 80 % and superficial tension of 38 mN m−1, and while the biotensoactive produced by A. lipoferum had an emulsion stability of 260 min, yield of 0.22 g L−1, emulsion capacity of 90 % and superficial tension of 35.5 mN m−1.

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Acknowledgments

This study is part of a doctoral project entitled “Restoration of petroleum contaminated mangrove soils in Tabasco, Mexico” The isolation of free-living nitrogen-fixing bacterial strains with the capacity to produce biosurfactants was performed with the support from Engr. Carlo Mario Hernández Domínguez of the Biotechnology Laboratory of the Autonomous Juarez University of Tabasco. Thanks to M.C.A. Lucero Vázquez Cruz, Head of the Microbiology Laboratory, for the support in the identification of Azospirillum species. We also thank Dr. María De Los Ángeles Guadarrama Olivera, Head of the Laboratory of Vascular Plants of the Herbarium of the Autonomous Juarez University of Tabasco, for the support in the taxonomic identification of vascular plants. We also extend our thanks to Dr. Emma Rebeca Macías Balleza of the Rheology Laboratory of Guadalajara University for the support in the measurements of surface tension and critical micelle concentration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Colegio de Postgraduados, Campus Tabasco, Periférico Carlos A. Molina s/n, Carretera Cárdenas-Huimanguillo Km 3.5, H. Cárdenas, Tabasco, C.P. 86500, México

    Marcia E. Ojeda-Morales, Marivel Domínguez-Domínguez & Joel Zavala-Cruz

  2. Laboratorio de biotecnología, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Cunduacán-Jalpa Km 1, Colonia La Esmeralda, Cunduacán, Tabasco, C.P. 86400, México

    Marcia E. Ojeda-Morales & Miguel A. Hernández-Rivera

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  1. Marcia E. Ojeda-Morales
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  2. Marivel Domínguez-Domínguez
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  3. Miguel A. Hernández-Rivera
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Ojeda-Morales, M.E., Domínguez-Domínguez, M., Hernández-Rivera, M.A. et al. Biosurfactant Production by Strains of Azospirillum Isolated from Petroleum-Contaminated Sites. Water Air Soil Pollut 226, 401 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-015-2659-0

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