Artificial bacterial consortium for bioremediation of hydrocarbon polluted sites

AbstractBioremediation is one of the most effective strategies to reduce pollution of oil contaminated environments. In this study, the ability of selected bacterial strains to degrade crude oil and its components was evaluated through growth experiments and gas chromatographic analysis. The strains were taxonomically characterized as Alcanivorax, Labrenzia, Halomonas, Acinetobacter, Alcaligenes, Pseudomonas and Brevundimonas. Four different bacterial consortia were constructed and their biodegradation capabilities were evaluated. One of them showing high degradation capability of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons has been used for bioaugmentation in a microcosm for 30 days, and its bioremediation potential showed significant reduction of hydrocarbons in contaminated sediments.Keywords: Hydrocarbons degrading bacteriabiodegradationmicrobial consortiaallochthonous bioaugmentationbioremediationDisclaimerAs a service to authors and researchers we are providing this version of an accepted manuscript (AM). Copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proofs will be undertaken on this manuscript before final publication of the Version of Record (VoR). During production and pre-press, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal relate to these versions also. AcknowledgmentsWe thank all of the members in our academic group for helping us to complete the experiments