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Production and characterization of rhamnolipid biosurfactant obtained by strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa san ai was investigated. With regard to carbon and nitrogen source several media were tested to enhance production of rhamnolipids. Phosphate-limited proteose peptone-ammonium salt (PPAS) medium supplemented with sun flower oil as a source of carbon and mineral ammonium chloride and peptone as a nitrogen source greatly improved rhamnolipid production, from 0.15 on basic PPAS (C/N ratio 4.0), to 3 g L-1, on optimized PPAS medium (C/N ratio 7.7). Response surface methodology analysis was used for testing effect of three factors: temperature, concentration of carbon and nitrogen source (w/w), in optimized PPAS medium on rhamnolipid production. Isolated rhamnolipids were characterized by IR and ESI-MS. IR spectra confirmed that isolated compound corresponds to rhamnolipid structure, whereas MS indicated that isolated preparation is a mixture of mono-rhamno-mono-lipidic, mono-rhamno-di-lipidic- and dirhamno- di-lipidic congeners

The production of levan by Bacillus licheniformis NS032 in a medium based on sugar beet molasses was studied. High polysaccharide yields were produced by using diluted molasses (100-140 g/L of total sugars) with the addition of commercial sucrose up to 200 g/L of total sugars, as well as K 2 HPO 4. A levan yield of 53.2 g/L was obtained on a medium optimized by response surface methodology, containing 62.6% of sugar originating from molasses, and 4.66 g/L of phosphate, with initial pH value of 7.2. In comparison to the media with 200 and 400 g /L sucrose, in the molasses optimized medium, the observed bacterial growth was faster, while the maximum

This article presents a study of the efficiency and degradation pattern of samples of petroleum sludge and polluted sandy soil from an oil refinery. A bacterial consortium, consisting of strains from the genera Pseudomonas, Achromobacter, Bacillus and Micromonospora, was isolated from a petroleum sludge sample and characterized. The addition of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients and a chemical surfactant to both the samples and bioaugmentation to the soil sample were applied under laboratory conditions. The extent of biodegradation was monitored by the gravimetric method and analysis of the residual oil by gas chromatography. Over a 12-week experiment, the achieved degree of TPH (total petroleum hydrocarbon) degradation amounted to 82-88% in the petroleum sludge and 86-91% in the polluted soil. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was utilized to determine the biodegradability and degradation rates of n-alkanes, isoprenoids, steranes, diasteranes and terpanes. Complete degradation of the n-alkanes and isoprenoids fractions occurred in both the samples. In addition, the intensities of the peaks corresponding to tricyclic terpenes and homohopanes were decreased, while significant changes were also observed in the distribution of diasteranes and steranes.