Kinetics of BTEX biodegradation by a microbial consortium acclimatized to unleaded gasoline and bacterial strains isolated from it

In this study we evaluated the efficiency of BTEX biodegradation by a consortium acclimatized to unleaded gasoline and bacterial strains isolated from it The isolates were identified by PCR-amplification of 16S rRNA genes and BTEX biodegradation was confirmed by the identification of dioxygenase-related proteins The consortium degraded 95% of total BTEX and the following genera were present in the consortium Pseudomonas Shewanella Burkholderia Alcanivorax Rhodococcus and Bacillus Strain FMB08 isolated from a consortium was capable of removing 90% of total BTEX and its 16S rDNA analysis was similar to that of Pseudomonas (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved