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Journal article
Isolation of Fungi from Petroleum-Contaminated Soil and Evaluation of Their Ability to Degrade Crude Oil
Iraqi Journal of Applied Physics, Vol.19(1), pp.13-20
2023
Abstract
Petroleum waste is a significant problem facing the environment caused by excessive and random use of petroleum or its derivatives. Interestingly, microorganisms have become the main factor in petroleum degradation. In this study, fungi were isolated from petroleum waste soils and evaluated for their ability to degrade moderate crude oil (MCO) and light crude oil (LCO) as the first step of environmental cleanup from petroleum waste. Twenty-one petroleum contamination sites in the north of Baghdad were studied. The serial dilution method was used to isolate fungi from soil. Colony forming units (CFU) of fungal community and the percentage of fungal genera and species frequently isolated per site were calculated. The physiochemical characteristics, electrical conductivity (EC), hydrogen ion (pH) and soil temperature were measured. Based on their growth rates, ten fungal species isolated from the contaminated soils were evaluated for their ability to decompose crude oil samples in the solid media. The American Petroleum Institute gravity (API gravity), asphaltene, saturated, aromatic, and other characteristics of both crude oils were determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
A larger number of fungi were recorded from the contaminated soils. Aspergillus species was the most common genus recorded. Site S13 recorded the highest number of fungal communities (115x106 CFU/gm). The pH ranged from 7 to 9.3, EC ranged from 0.1 to 0.8, and temperature between 22.4 to 24.9 °C. All ten fungal species could decompose crude oil. Through growth rate, Paecilomyces variotii had the highest ability to decompose the two types of oil crude (FGR at 7.8) followed by Fusarium pallidoroseum (FGR at 6.5 of MCO and LCO at 7.2). While Aspergillus flavus had the lowest growth on the MCO medium (FGR at 4.8) and Emericella nidulans had the lowest growth on the LCO medium (FGR at 4.5).
Details
- Title
- Isolation of Fungi from Petroleum-Contaminated Soil and Evaluation of Their Ability to Degrade Crude Oil
- Authors/Creators
- M.Y. Khdiar - Murdoch UniversityA. A. MahmoodL. A. ShihabGiles Hardy - Murdoch University, Centre for Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
- Publication Details
- Iraqi Journal of Applied Physics, Vol.19(1), pp.13-20
- Publisher
- Iraqi Society for Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources and Techniques
- Identifiers
- 991005601866907891
- Copyright
- © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Centre for Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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