Potential of Burkholderia cepacia RQ1 in the biodegradation of heavy crude oil

Abstract

The potential of Burkholderia cepacia strain RQ1 in the biodegradation of heavy crude oil (Maya) was assessed to develop an active indigenous bacterial consortium for the bioremediation of crude oil-polluted systems in Nigeria. The heavy crude oil (Maya) was utilized as sole source of carbon, attaining maximum cell densities of 10⁸ cfu ml^-1 from an initial 10⁵ cfu ml^-1 in 15 days. Biomass also increased with oil concentrations up to 0.8% (w/v). Growth rates ranged from 0.028 h^-1 to 0.036 h^-1 and degradation rates decreased with increasing concentrations of oil from 0.009 day^-1 to 0.004 day^-1. The quantity of oil metabolized increased significantly (P < 0.05) with increasing concentrations of oil. However, the growth of the bacterium was inhibited at crude oil concentrations beyond 6% (w/v). The pH of the culture media also dropped significantly (P < 0.05) during the 15-day test period, while the non-asphaltic fractions of the oil were significantly reduced (by about 89%) during the same period. The bacterium harbours a plasmid of about 10 kb that lacks restriction sites for the endonucleases Asp718, BamHI and PstI.