EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE, PH AND NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE GROWTH AND CRUDE OIL BIODEGRADATION OF PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA

Abstract The effect of temperature, pH and nutrient supplementation on the growth and crude oil utilisation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from crude oil contaminated soil from Ndokwa East Local Govt area of Delta State was studied. The bacterium was isolated and identified based on the cultural, morphological and biochemical characteristics. This was incubated with known values of crude oil to investigate the growth and metabolic capability of this organism at five different values of temperature, pH and nutrient supplementation. The result showed that growth and degradation were highest at 37oC, for pH, growth was highest at pH 5.32 while degradation was highest at pH 8.68 and for nutrient supplementation, growth was highest at nutrient concentration of 0.434g/ml of oil while degradation was highest at nutrient concentration of 1.085g/ml.