Characterization of dioxygenases and biosurfactants produced by crude oil degrading soil bacteria

ABSTRACT Role of microbes in bioremediation of oil spills has become inevitable owing to their eco friendly nature. This study focused on the isolation and characterization of bacterial strains with superior oil degrading potential from crude-oil contaminated soil. Three such bacterial strains were selected and subsequently identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis as Corynebacterium aurimucosum, Acinetobacter baumannii and Microbacterium hydrocarbonoxydans respectively. The specific activity of catechol 1,2 dioxygenase (C12O) and catechol 2,3 dioxygenase (C23O) was determined in these thr...