Inorganic nutrient utilisation by "adapted" Pseudomonas putida strain used in the bioremediation of agricultural soil polluted with crude petroleum.

ABSTRACT

Garden soil samples polluted with crude petroleum were bioremediated by inorganic nutrient monitoring with appropriate adjustment and inoculation with crude oil-adapted strain of Pseudomonasputida (PP) isolated from oil-impacted soils. Soil samples without PP inoculation served as the control samples to compare the abilities of the native soil microflora with the adapted PP strain in biodegrading crude oil pollutant. In the experimental samples, oil concentration and all the inorganic nutrient sources tested decreased more rapidly with a proportional increase in the population densities of both PP and the native soil microflora than were observed in the control samples. This trend was particularly strong for PO4(3-) and NO3- which eventually became limiting both in all the experimental samples and in some control samples. Inoculation of crude oil-impacted agricultural soils by oil -adapted PP strain with nutrient monitoring and adjustment can be effective as bioremediation methods of agricultural land upon pollution with petroleum or petroleum products.