Identification and characterization of a soil bacterium with extracellular emulsifying activity

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Abstract
A gram‐negative bacterial strain (designated UG2) isolated from oil‐contaminated soil was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa based on biochemical characterization, total cellular fatty acid analysis, and serotyping. The strain produced high extracellular emulsifying activity when grown on various aromatic and straight chain hydrocarbons such as naphthalene, stearic acid, hexadecane and sunflower oil. The emulsifying activity in crude culture filtrates of UG2 exhibited stability at 80°C. In addition, the presence of the emulsifying agent increased partitioning of 14C‐PCB into the aqueous phase in soil slurries by a factor of 30‐fold over that of the water control. The results suggest that UG2 emulsifying agent may have a potential application in remediation of PCB‐contaminated soil that has also been inoculated with PCB‐degrading organism(s).