Petroleum Degrading Activity of Actinomycetes Isolated from the Coastal Areas of Tamilnadu George U. Mereena1,*, Chandraja C.V.2, Immanuel G.3, Chandran R. Pratap 1Department of Biotechnology, K.V.M. College of Engineering and Information Technology, Cherthala, Alappuzha Dist. Kerala, India. 2Department of Microbiology, Noorul Islam College of Arts and Science, Kumaracoil, Kanyakumari Dist. Tamilnadu, India. 3Department of Microbiology, Centre for Marine Science and Technology, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Rajakkamangalam Kanyakumari District, Tamilnadu, India. *Email: Mereena89@gmail.com
Abstract Hydrocarbons can be introduced into the environment through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, accidental discharge during transport, the disposal of petroleum products and various industrial processes. Microbial interactions with organic pollutants can be harnessed to help to prevent contamination and clean up of such sites. Microorganisms have tremendous potential to breakdown organic contaminants. In the present investigation nine non sporulating soil actinomycetes belonging to Rhodococcus, Nocardia, Gordonia and Dietzia genera were investigated for their hydrocarbon degrading abilities and eighteen morphologically distinct actinomycetes were screened for hydrocarbon degradation. The major genus of actinomycetes showed hydrocarbon degrading activity was Streptomycetes and Micromonospora sp. Top Keywords Hydrocarbon, Biodegradation, Actinomycetes, Streptomycetes, Micromonospora. Top |