Bonny Light Crude Oil Degradative Potental of Species of Cirobacter

Of the diverse hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria isolated from crude oil polluted IKO River estuarine and freshwater ecosystems, the bacterial isolate, ESW1 and FSW2 identified as Citrobacter amalonaticus strain – FSW2 and Citrobacter amalonaticus strain - ESW1.These efficiently degrade Bonny light crude oil sample recording 82.1 and 69.2% degradation respectively after 28 days of incubation. Biodegradability of the components of Bonny light crude oil was determined by gas chromatographic analysis. The chromatographic analysis after 28 days of incubation at 28°C also revealed that during the degradation of Bonny light crude oil, there was a decrease of the total hydrocarbon content (THC) from 10,906.9 mg L⁻¹ to 1,947.4 mg L⁻¹ and 3,357.9 mg L⁻¹ respectively by FSW2 and ESW1. These results suggest that Citrobacter amalonaticus is a good candidate for microbial seeding of Bonny light crude oil polluted aquatic ecosystem.