Original Article | 2014, Vol.36, No.2, pp. 163-175
Characterization and phylogenetic analysis of biosurfactant-producing bacteria isolated from palm oil contaminated soils
Kanokrat Saisa-ard, Atipan Saimmai and Suppasil Maneerat
pp. 163 - 175
Abstract
Biosurfactant-producing bacteria were isolated from 89 different soil samples contaminated with palm oil in 35 palm oil industry sites in the south of Thailand. The phylogenetic diversity of the isolates was evaluated by 16S rRNA gene analysis. Among 1,324 colonies obtained, 134 isolates released extracellular biosurfactant when grown on low-cost substrates by a drop collapsing test. Among these, the 53 isolates that showed the highest biosurfactant production on different substrates were found to belong to 42 different bacterial genera. Among these sixteen (Caryophanon; Castellaniella; Filibacter; Geminicoccus; Georgenia; Luteimonas; Mesorhizobium; Mucilaginibacter; Nubsella; Paracoccus; Pedobacter; Psychrobacter; Rahnella; Sphingobium; Sphingopyxis and Sporosarcina) were first reported as biosurfactant-producing strains. By using low-cost, agro-industrial by-products or wastes, Azorhizobium doebereinerae AS54 and Geminicoccus roseus AS73 produced extracellular biosurfactant, which exhibited the lowest surface tension reduction (25.5 mN/m) and highest emulsification activity (69.0%) when palm oil decanter cake and used palm oil was used as a carbon sources, respectively. Overall, this is the first study of a phylogenetic analysis of biosurfactant-producing bacteria from palm oil refinery industry site and their ability to produce biosurfactant on renewable substrates.
