Microbial surfactant mediated degradation of anthracene in aqueous phase by marine Bacillus licheniformis MTCC 5514

The present study emphasizes the biosurfactant mediated anthracene degradation by a marine alkaliphile Bacillus licheniformis (MTCC 5514). The isolate, MTCC 5514 degraded >95% of 300 ppm anthracene in an aqueous medium within 22 days and the degradation percentage reduced significantly when the concentration of anthracene increased to above 500 ppm. Naphthalene, naphthalene 2-methyl, phthalic acid and benzene acetic acid are the products of degradation identified based on thin layer chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography and mass analyses. It has been observed that the degradation is initiated by the biosurfactant of the isolate for solubilization through micellation and then the alkali pH and intra/extra cellular degradative enzymes accomplish the degradation process. Encoding of genes responsible for biosurfactant production (licA3) as well as catabolic reactions (C23O) made with suitable primers designed. The study concludes in situ production of biosurfactant mediates the degradation of anthracene by B. licheniformis.