Degradation of Toluene Hydrocarbon by Isolated Yeast Strains: Molecular Genetic Approaches for Identification and Characterization

Removal of petroleum benzene, toluene, and xylene compounds from the environment is necessary to ensure quality life. In this research, 41 yeasts were isolated from oily soils. Among them, nine yeasts named KKUs (A5, A6, A12, A20, A23, A24, A26, A29, and A38) were selected based on their use of benzene, toluene, and xylene as a sole carbon and energy source. Based on their growth rates, all selected yeasts displayed a high efficiency for toluene degradation, but had no ability to degrade benzene and a low ability to degrade xylene, except A29 and A38, which could not degrade xylene. HPLC analysis for toluene removal indicated that A6, A12, A20, A23, A24, and A26 almost completely removed the toluene compound after 3 days of incubation (92.74, 94.61, 95.05, 91.74, 91.85, and 97.29%, respectively). In addition, strains A29 and A38 showed moderate degradation (88.29 and 85.30%, respectively), while the ability of A5 was low (39.00%). The isolates were identified based on amplifying and sequencing the D1/D2 domain of the 26S rRNA gene. Alignments and comparisons of the 26S rRNA gene sequences of the isolates with those available in GenBank, plus phylogenetic analysis, proved isolates as Rhodotorula lactose KKU-A5, Rhodotorula nymphaeae KKU-A6, Rhodotorula graminis KKU-A12, Rhodotorula minuta KKU-A20, Exophiala dermatitidis KKU-A23, Candida davisiana KKU-A24, Rhodotorula slooffiae KKU-A26, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa KKU-A29, and Rhodosporidium diobovatum KKU-A38. Random amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR fingerprinting was accomplished within seven toluene-degrading red yeasts (A5, A6, A12, A20, A26, A29, and A38). The results indicated no correlation between the random amplified polymorphic DNA profile and the geographic origin of the isolates.