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Hydrocarbon degradation potential and competitive persistence of hydrocarbonoclastic bacterium Acinetobacter pittii strain ABC

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Abstract

Acinetobacter pittii strain ABC was isolated from oily sludge sediments and characterized with regard to utilization/degradation of hydrocarbons and competitive persistence in hydrocarbon-amended media. The isolate grew in both aliphatic- and aromatic hydrocarbon-amended Bushnell–Haas medium (BHM). When incubated in 1% (v/v) Assam crude oil-amended BHM for 5 and 10 days, this strain was able to degrade 88% and 99.8% of the n-hexane extractable crude oil components, respectively. The isolate showed appreciable emulsification index (E24 65.26 ± 1.2%), hydrophobicity (60.88 ± 3.5%) and produced lipopeptide biosurfactant (0.57 g L−1). The isolate was able to tolerate heavy metal salts at concentrations reported in crude oil-polluted sediments from Assam. A 16S rDNA DGGE-based screening showed the persistence of A. pittii strain ABC in hydrocarbon-amended microcosms co-inoculated with other hydrocarbonoclastic bacterial strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa AKS1, Bacillus sp. AKS2, Arthrobacter sp. BC1, and Novosphingobium panipatense P5:ABC), each isolated from the same oily sludge sediment. These findings indicate A. pittii strain ABC as a potential agent for the bioremediation of crude oil-polluted environment.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from DBT, Govt. of India (BT/306/NE/TBP/2012). Fellowship grant from Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India to BC (IF10272) is gratefully acknowledged. AM was supported by the CSIR/UGC-NET Fellowship from the University Grants Commission, Govt. of India (201112-NETJRF-10217-100).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, 793022, India

    Bobby Chettri, Ningombam A. Singha, Amar Nath Rai & Arvind Kumar Singh

  2. Department of Biotechnology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700019, India

    Arghya Mukherjee & Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay

  3. Amity University, Rajarhat, New Town, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700135, India

    Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay

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  1. Bobby Chettri
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Chettri, B., Singha, N.A., Mukherjee, A. et al. Hydrocarbon degradation potential and competitive persistence of hydrocarbonoclastic bacterium Acinetobacter pittii strain ABC. Arch Microbiol 201, 1129–1140 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-019-01687-z

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