Characterization of Biosurfactant Produced by Bacillus Sp. Isolated From Oil Spilled Water Samples of Arabian Sea

Abstract

Pollution of Sea by various harmful hydrocarbons due to accidental leakages of oils during ship operations making it one of serious environmental issues all over the world. Biosurfactants act as one of the promising candidates for overcoming such pollutions. They are surface active molecules synthesized by microorganisms. They replace their chemically synthesized counterparts due to their eco-friendly nature on environment. In present study, we isolated some of the bacterial strains showing biosurfactant activity and further we characterized particular bacterial strain showing highest activity isolated from oil-spilled area of Arabian Sea. Various biosurfactant activity assay tests were performed for isolating the potent bacterial strain. Marine biosurfactants produced by some marine microorganisms have been paid more attention, particularly for the bioremediation of the sea polluted by crude oil. Among all of the isolated strains, strain 2 identified as Bacillus sp. showed the highest biosurfactant activity. The isolated culture filtrate was found to be highly effective in microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). Keywords