Kinetics of hydrocarbon degradation by a newly isolated heavy metal tolerant bacterium Novosphingobium panipatense P5:ABC.

This study report kinetics of PAHs and crude oil degradation by a newly isolated multiple heavy metal tolerant Novosphingobium panipatense P5:ABC. The isolate showed hydrocarbon degrading enzyme activities namely alkane hydroxylase, catechol 1,2-dioxygenase and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase. The level of C23O activity was 9.63 times higher than C12O thus suggesting active involvement of meta-cleavage pathway. The data of biodegradation of hydrocarbons fitted well to the first order kinetic model. The degradation rate was highest for phenanthrene followed by crude oil, and fluoranthene. We have further reported the estimate of fundamental kinetic parameters, half-saturation constant (Ks) and maximum degradation rates (Vmax) for biodegradation of phenanthrene and fluoranthene. Overall characterization underscores the potential of Novosphingobium in bioremediation of crude oil polluted sites.