Screening of bacteria, isolated from PAH-contaminated soils, for production of biosurfactants and bioemulsifiers

Fifty-seven bacterial strains were isolated from PAH-contaminated soils using PAH-amended minimal medium. The isolates were screened for their production of biosurfactants and bioemulsifiers when grown in liquid media containing selected PAHs. The results suggest that many, but not all, of the isolates are able to produce biosurfactants or bioemulsifiers under the experimental conditions. The majority of the strains isolated on phenanthrene, pyrene, and fluoranthene were better emulsifiers than surface tension reducers and the stability of the formed emulsions was in general high. The strains isolated on anthracene were in general better in lowering the surface tension than in forming emulsions. In all strains, reduction of surface tension and emulsion formation did not correlate. However, in the majority of strains the two factors were associated with the bacterial cell surfaces, rather than the culture supernatants. Nevertheless, supernatants from selected surfactant-producing anthracene isolates increased the aqueous solubility of anthracene. Although a significant potential for surfactant and emulsifier production in the microbiota of the PAH-contaminated soils was found in this study, the ability of individual strains to mineralize PAHs did not coincide with production of surface-active compounds.