Growth responses of petroleum refinery effluent bacteria to phenol
Abstract
Studies of the fungal and bacterial population of petroleum refinery effluent samples were carried out by microbial enumeration and determination of growth responses of bacterial isolates in increasing doses (0 - 15mM) of phenol in mineral salt-phenol agar. The total aerobic heterotrophic bacterial count ranged from (2.05 ± 0.4) x 107 to (2.52 ± 0.5) x 108 CFU/ml, total phenol-utilizing bacteria ranged from (1.18 ± 0.3) x 106 to (1.02 ± 0.3) x 107 CFU/ml and the total fungal count ranged from (3.1 ± 1.3) x 103 to (3.9 ± 0.5) x 104 CFU/ml in the effluent samples. Bacillus sp. RWW, Aeromonas sp. RBD, Escherichia coli OPWW and Staphylococcus sp. DP were isolated from the samples. Growth responses of the isolates on increasing doses of phenol in mineral salt-phenol agar showed that Bacillus sp. RWW and Escherichia coli OPWW had highest growth on 0.5mM (≈ 47.06mg/l) while Aeromonas sp. RBD and Staphylococcus sp. DP had their highest growth on 1.0mM (≈ 94.11mg/l). Bacillus sp. RWW and Escherichia coli OPWW showed least growth on 15.0mM (≈1,412mg/ml) of phenol. Escherichia coli OPWW exhibited highest growth in mineral salt broth containing 11.0mM of phenol with OD540nm of 0.324 in 144 h resulting in the fastest utilization of phenol for growth. The highest specific growth rate of 0.013 h-1 at 11 mM (≈1,035mg/l) of phenol was obtained for Bacillus sp. RWW and Escherichia coli. Staphylococcus sp. DP had the lowest specific growth rate of 0.011 h-1 at 11 mM of phenol. These bacterial strains could be considered phenol-resistant and are potentially applicable in the removal of phenolic compounds from contaminated environmental media.
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