Research Article

Isolation and Identification of Pyrene Mineralizing Mycobacterium spp. from Contaminated and Uncontaminated Sources

Table 5

PAH removal by Mycobacterium sp. isolates.

PAHaPAH Decrease (%)bIncubation time (days)
Initial PAH concentration (mg L−1)Strain 1BStrain BS5Strain KA5Strain KF4Abiotic control

Fluorene100NScNSNSNS52.9 ± 6.614
Phenanthrene250100 ± 0.0100 ± 0.0100 ± 0.0100 ± 0.0d14
Fluoranthene50100 ± 0.024 ± 3.859.6 ± 13.519.9 ± 3.920
Pyrene250100 ± 0.094.3 ± 6.2100 ± 0.698.5 ± 2.620
Benzo[a]pyrene50NSNSNSNS50

aPAHs were supplied in BSM containing 0.05 g L−1 yeast extract.
bPercentage PAH decrease was calculated by comparing PAH concentrations in Mycobacterium sp. inoculated cultures to the corresponding abiotic control.
cPAH removal was less than 5% compared to the abiotic control and not significant, NS ( ). All other % removal values significantly greater than abiotic control ( ).
dGreater than 95% of added PAHs were recovered from abiotic controls at the end of the incubation period.