The synergetic effect of starch and alpha amylase on the biodegradation of n-alkanes

The impact of adding soluble starch on biodegradation of n-alkanes (C10-C14) by Bacillus subtilis TB1 was investigated. Gas chromatography was employed to measure the residual hydrocarbons in the system. It was observed that the efficiency of biodegradation improved with the presence of starch and the obtained residual hydrocarbons in the system were 53% less than the samples without starch. The produced bacterial enzymes were studied through electrophoresis and reverse zymography for explaining the observations. The results indicated that the produced amylase by the bacteria can degrade hydrocarbons and the same was obtained by the application of a commercial alpha amylase sample. In addition, in silico docking of alpha-amylase with n-alkanes with different molecular weights was studied by Molegro virtual docker which showed high negative binding energies and further substantiated the experimental observations. Overall, the findings confirmed the catalytic effect of alpha amylase on n-alkanes degradation.