ISOLATION, IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF OIL DEGRADING MARINE BACTERIA FROM SANDY SHORE OF SHIVAJI PARK, MUMBAI.

Charmi Dedhia* and Jayaprada Rao Chunduri

ABSTRACT

Marine ecosystem is known for abundance of life represented by micro, meso and macro organisms exhibiting a variety of biodiversity. The composition, spatial distribution and survival techniques of these organisms rely on the niche they prefer. Marine microbes viz. bacteria are of great interest due to variety of applications and their well-defined requirements such as seawater, especially sodium for growth. Although marine microorganisms are not well identified taxonomically, preliminary studies indicated that the applications of these microbes made a promising frontier in the area of drug development, food industry, and biological products like biosurfactants and complex processes like bioremediation. Marine oil pollution due to oil slicks was remediated artificially by chemical and biologically tailored components. The current study is aimed at isolating, identifying and characterizing marine bacterial species capable of degrading vegetable oils from the sandy shores of Mumbai coast.

Keywords: Oil Degrading Marine Microbes, Mumbai Sand, Shivaji Park, Biosurfactant, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, Bacillus spp, Micrococcus spp, Aeromonas spp.