A glycolipid biosurfactant from a native halophilic Bacillus species of Porto Novo, India and its potential microbially enhanced oil recovery properties

Abstract

A potential biosurfactant producing halophilic bacterium was isolated from the saltpan environment of Porto Novo, Tamilnadu, India. The potential bacterium showed 69.9 % emulsification activity, 56.7 units/ml lipase activity and 22 mm oil displacement in the biosurfactant multiple screening methods. This halophilic bacterium was identified as Bacillus species using 16S rRNA molecular sequencing method. This strain showed growth dependent biosurfactant production, which was partially purified and weighed at 0.945 ±0.021 g/L on dry weight basis. The isolated biosurfactant was biochemically identified as glycolipid using biochemical methods and FT-IR functional group analysis. Further, the glycolipid surfactant showed consistent oil recovery efficiency than the tested synthetic surfactant at the temperature up to 50°C and pH ranged from 5 to 8. Based on these observations, the isolated biosurfactant using this halophilic bacterium revealed promising microbially enhanced oil recovery and bioremediation purposes at a wide range of environmental conditions.