Authors : Ismail Saadoun, Ruqaia Ismail, Marwa Albousy, Aisha Alalilli and Ban Aljobouri
Abstract: Growth of bacteria on phenol as a sole carbon source has been investigated. Four different bacterial colonies have been recovered on the agar plates and their biochemical and phenotypic characterization revealed that they are mainly Gram negative motile bacteria with negative methyl red test but with positive catalase test. O.D. reading at 600 nm and UV absorbance at 273 nm determined the growth and/or phenol degradation by the tested bacteria. Incubation of the 4 tested bacteria in Mineral Salts Medium (MSM) supplemented with 0.2% (w/v) (2000 mg/L) of phenol for 21 days at 28°C indicated the removal of 1989.16 mg/L of phenol by strain KS8 as compared to 1984.0, 1981.28 and 1922.88 mg/L by strains KS6, KS5 and Aw2, respectively. Removal of phenol by indigenous microbial communities to marine environment was shown to be successful with a considerable role can be exploited by strain KS8 in degradation of toxic compounds such as phenol.
Ismail Saadoun, Ruqaia Ismail, Marwa Albousy, Aisha Alalilli and Ban Aljobouri, 2017. Phenotypic Characterization and Evaluation of Phenol-Degrading Indigenous Bacteria Isolated from UAE Seawater. Environmental Research Journal, 11: 1-4.