Characterization of native fungi responsible for degrading crude oil from the coastal area of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia

Figures & data

Table 1. Effect of hydrocarbons on cell growth, cell surface hydrophobicity, emulsification activity and surface tension after two weeks of incubation at 30 °C.

Strain	% Degradation	Surface tension (mN/m)	Cell surface hydrophobicity (FATH, %)	Emulsification activity (E24; %)
Y1	54 ± 2.0	42 ± 3.0	61.0 ± 2.0	34.3 ± 1.7
Y2	99 ± 1.0	23 ± 2.0	26.5 ± 2.5	75.6 ± 2.3
Y4	48 ± 3.0	52 ± 3.0	52.5 ± 1.5	23 ± 3.0

Note: The surface tension of Bushnell–Haas medium without fungi was 61.7 mN/m.

Data are mean values with standard deviation (±SD).

Figure 1. Morphological characteristics of Aspergillus oryzae (Y2). Fungal isolate from Yanbu soil on nutrient agar plate (a); SEM image of isolate Y2 at 100× magnification (b), 750× magnification (c) and 1000× magnification (d).

Figure 2. Comparative phylogenetic analysis of the Aspergillus niger (KR137638), Aspergillus oryzae (KR029081) and Penicillium commune (KR137639) [12].

Figure 3. Bioremediation of crude oil after two weeks of incubation at 30 °C, analysed by GC-MS. (a) without micro-organism (control) and (b) degraded sample using Y2.

Table 2. Quantitative assessment of crude oil content in the presence of Aspergillus oryzae Y2 along with control.

Compound	Retention time (min)	Molecular weight	Peak area (control*)	Peak area (Y2)	Area reduction (%)
Tetradecane	6.250	198	356,526	0	100
Pentadecane	6.945	212	986,550	0	100
Hexadecane	7.600	226	895,566	0	100
Heptadecane	8.225	240	1,156,283	0	100
Tetracosane	9.380	338	970,256	0	100
Heptacosane	10.430	380	596,525	0	100

*Control (crude oil without fungal isolate).