Juliana Mayz, Lorna Manzi and América Lárez
The activities of the oil industry have caused hydrocarbon pollution in many areas, whose biological removal (bioremediation), categorized as ecological and cheap use microorganism’s metabolism. The genus Pseudomonas is a heterogeneous and environmentally significant group in the rhizosphere of plants, related to bioremediation process. Thus, this research includes the isolation, characterization and identification of the Pseudomonas species existing in the rhizosphere of a legume present in a savanna soil polluted by an oil spill from the pipeline Caripito-Puerto La Cruz, 100 meters from the entrance of the Amana del Tamarindo village, Monagas state. The legume was identified with the register of the Herbarium UOJ (UDO, Maturín), keys, and the TROPICOS database. Pseudomonas species were isolated in Bushnell-Haas liquid medium + 1% (w/v) of crude oil. The dilutions (5%, v/v) were streaked on plates with Pseudomonas agar base supplemented with Cetrimide (10g), Fucidin (10g) and Cephalosporin (50gL-1) from which colonies were purified. The phenotypic characteristics, Gram stain test, catalase and cytochrome oxidase enzymes activities, pyocyanin and fluorescein pigments production, RaPIDTm NF Plus and API 20 NE tests and MicroScan AutoScan4 identified P. fluorescens, P. putida and P. aeruginosa in the rhizosphere of Crotalaria micans. These species could sustain this plant growth through reduction of the toxic effects of spilled oil. In addition, this study could be a step towards the development of a bioremediation strategy.
