Oily Sludge Biodegradation by Bacterial Isolates From Khurais Oil Field in Saudi Arabia

This investigation was carried out to detect oily sludge biodegradation activity of bacterial isolates from Khurais oil field, Saudi Arabia. The understanding of different biodegradation capability was cleared in the light of amplifying Alkane Hydroxylase gene (alkB). Based on morphological and biochemical studies and 16S rRNA marker, our bacterial isolates were identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Pseudomonas alcaligenes and Bacillus cereus. Varied degradation percentage of saturated and aromatic fractions for four bacterial isolates were recorded. Only Pseudomonas alcaligenes and Bacillus cereus amplified Alkane Hydroxylase genes were found with different identity percentage. Significant different for Alkane Hydroxylase (alkB) amino acids 3D modeling was cleared. SDS-PAGE technique reflected distinguished fraction variation among four bacterial isolates. Additionally, Alkane Hydroxylase gene (alkB) with the specific fraction of 41 kDa was only expressed in Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas alcaligenes.

Keywords: Khurais oil field; oil sludge biodegradation; 16S rRNA; Alkane Hydroxylase gene; alkB; SDS-PAGE technique; amino acids 3D modeling

Corresponding author:E-mail: ai_gentics80@yahoo.com