Crude oil degradation by free and immobilized cells of Yarrowia lipolytica NCIM 3589

Crude oil degradation by a strain of Yarrowia lipolytica isolated from a chronically oil-contaminated tropical marine estuary was studied in free and immobilized form. The strain degraded 78 % of the aliphatic fraction of Bombay High crude oil in the free form under optimal conditions. Immobilized in porous agar beads, the cells degraded upto 92 % of the aliphatic fraction of supplied oil at 30 degrees C, 200 rpm and crude oil concentrations of 1 % w/v. The immobilized cells were effective upto five cycles each of five days with 28% loss of activity in batch culture. In a continuous flow reactor, immobilized cells were active for 30 days, the duration of the experiment, with no loss of activity.