2.10. Biodegradation of Crude oil
B. methylotrophicus USTBa was used to study the biodegradation
of 2.0% w/v crude oil in MSM under aerobic conditions. The flasks
were incubated in orbital shaker at 180 rpm and 35 C for 2 weeks.
A control was run without bacteria under same set of conditions.
After incubation, the residual oil was extracted with hexane and
the compounds were eluted with CH2Cl2 for three times. The moisture
was removed by passing through the anhydrous Na2SO4 column.
The extracted residual oil was further fractionated for
alkanes by passing through an activated (Al2O3) column.