Isolation and Characterization of Phenol Metabolizing Bacillus Cereus Strain Sbbp4

Abstract

US Environment Protection Agency has categorized phenol and its derivatives as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) due to the associated deleterious effects. Conventional mitigation approaches due to the complex procedures, high cost and involvement of lots of man power have failed in clearing this pollutant from ecosystem. Bioremediation based on bacteria can replace these conventional approaches due to simpler technology and low cost. In present study, we have tried to isolate and characterize phenol metabolizing bacteria from tannery industry soil. Isolation was carried out using minimal salt media (MSM) and serial dilution method. Followed this, bacterium was analyzed via growth curve analysis, ribotyping, biochemical testing, antibiotic sensitivity profiling, phenol removal assay and FTIR analysis. Bacterium was identified to be Bacillus cereus. It was fast growing capable of removing 98.7% phenol. It exhibited resistance against amoxicillin, augmentin, cefadroxil, and cephalexin. Comparison of FTIR spectra of control vs bacterial sample also showed slight variation in peaks indicating the change in bonds of phenol in the presence of present study isolate. Bacterium Bacillus cereus strain SBBP4 can be investigated for further optimization and employed for efficient phenol removal.