Diversity and Distribution of Potential Biosurfactant Producing Bacillus Sp MN 243657, GC-MS Analysis and its Antimicrobial Study

Abstract

Biosurfactants are microbially produced surface-active compounds. They are amphiphilic molecules with hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. The demand for biosurfactants has been exponentially growing as they are nontoxic and biodegradable. They have different applications in several industrial sectors. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize the native bacteria which produce biosurfactants from oil contaminated soil of different places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India. The soil samples were collected from petrol pumps and workshops where the soil is contaminated with petrol, diesel and oil. The bacteria were isolated from contaminated soil samples and confirmed as Bacillus sp.The cultures were screened for biosurfactant production by different screening techniques such as blood hemolysis, oil spreading assay, emulsification ability assay, bacterial adherence to hydrocarbons activity. The potential biosurfactant producing culture was selected and identified using molecular techniques and submitted to NCBI Gene Bank (MN 243657 – Bacillus sp). The selected bacterial culture was used for biosurfactant production and these were characterized by UV, TLC, FTIR and GC -MS analysis. The derived biosurfactant's Rf value was 0.68 as determined by a TLC chromatogram. In a UV-visible spectroscopy study, the isolated biosurfactant displayed a highest peak at 415 nm. According to FTIR analysis, the isolated biosurfactant displayed an intense peak at 3340 cm -1. The large peaks of the biosurfactant were observed at various retention times of 12.75, 10.22, 4.98, and 3.87, respectively, after GC-MS analysis. Antibacterial and antifungal activity of the biosurfactant was identified against pathogenic bacteria such as P.aeruginosa, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, S. aureus and fungi Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus flavus.