Isolation, Characterization and Molecular Identification of Hydrocarbon-Degrading, Biosurfactant Producing Bacteria from Automobile Workshops in Abuja

Automobile repair workshops are potential sites for hydrocarbon-degrading and biosurfactant producing bacteria. Soil samples were collected from 3 different automobile workshops within Abuja Municipal Area council (Apo. Jabi & Lugbe) for bacteria isolation. Biochemical and morphological characterization was done on isolates before testing for hydrocarbon-degrading abilities using engine oil enriched Bushnell Haas (BH) Agar and also screening for biosurfactant production. The isolation result showed colonies on each plate ranging from 1.7x105 to 4.4x105 CFU/ml on plain soil sample and 2.3x105 to 4.7x105 CFU/ml on plant soil samples across the 3 sample locations. 20 pure cultures were isolated and morphologically found to be predominantly cocci and rod-shaped. Biochemical test revealed that 11produced catalase only• 1 produced oxidase only while 7 were positive for both oxidase and catalase tests. 55% of the isolates were positive for biosurfactant production using both the drop collapse and oil spread assays while 45% were negative. 75% of the isolates emulsified engine oil while 25% did not. All 20 isolates degraded hydrocarbon in both new and spent engine oil enriched BH agar. 5 isolates with both biosurfactant-producing and hydrocarbon-degrading activities were molecularly characterized and identified using NCBI BLAST as APTA (Burkholderia cenocepacia), JPLB (Bacillus cereus), LPLD (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens)• LPTC (Sporosarcina luteola) and LPTD (Acinetobacter baumannii). This study is the first to isolate Burkholderia cenocepacia and Sporosarcina luteola from automobile workshops. This work further confirmed the suitability of automobile workshops as a source for the isolation of hydrocarbon-degrading and biosurfactant-producing bacteria suitable for numerous environmental applications.