r strategist versus K strategist for the application in bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated soils
Abstract A laboratory study was undertaken to determine the degradative potentials of the pure bacterial strains Mycobacterium frederiksbergense IN53 Actinobacteria a K strategist) and Acinetobacter sp. IN47 Gammaproteobacteria an r strategist) as well as a combination of these strains under harsh environmental conditions (high hydrocarbon load: 50,883 and 46,682 mg kg 1 dry weight of soil for non sterile and sterile soil samples, respectively; moisture content lower than 20% A decrease in total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and the activity of soil enzymes (dehydrogenase and lipase) indicated that the effects of M. frederiksbergense IN53 and the consortium were equivalent. However, these two microbial treatments showed significantly better degradative actions than Acinetobacter sp. IN47. Similar biodegradation yields were observed in sterile and non sterile soil samples. These results suggest that bioaugmentation with M. frederiksbergense IN53 (K strategist) provides a better approach for the treatment of hydrocarbon contaminated sites in which the optimum remediation bioprocess conditions are difficult to maintain.