Biosurfactants produced by metal-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from Zea mays rhizosphere and compost

Contextualization: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is capable of producing biosurfactants which have many uses in bioremediation and the production of antiviral, antibacterial, antiparasitic, sporicidal and antifungal agents, among others. Knowledge gap: This study describes the production of mono and di-rhamnolipid biosurfactants by P. aeruginosa strains isolated from Zea mays rhizosphere and composts in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. Purpose: The overall aims were to investigate biosurfactant, pyocyanin production, and tolerance to heavy metals and antimicrobial activity capacity than biosurfactants produced from P. aeruginosa strains from corn rhizosphere and compost in Mexico. Methodology: Biosurfactant production was determined based hemolysis on blood agar, blue halos in CTAB-Methylene blue agar, drop collapse test and production of foam on PPGAS broth, the emulsion index (IE24) and antibacterial capacity. The strains were identified by sequence of the 16S rDNA gene and their resistance to heavy metals were also evaluated. Results and conclusions: Two strains isolated from Zea mays rhizosphere (PAM8, PAM9) were the best biosurfactant producers and their extracts showed antimicrobial activity against Grampositive and Gramnegative bacteria. PAM8 and PAM9 showed >30% of cellular hydrophobicity to hydrocarbons, and were capable of emulsifying toluene, cyclohexane, petroleum, diesel and oils. All strains showed the same profile of heavy metal tolerance (As5+ >As3+ >Zn2+ >Pb2+ >Fe3+ >Cd2+ >Cu2+ >Cr6+ in concentrations of 20, 10, 10, 6, 4, 4, 2 and 2 mM., respectively). The isolation of biosurfactant-producing and heavy-metal tolerant bacteria from Zea mays rhizosphere and compost in Guerrero demonstrates the capacity for this region to harbor potentially important microbial strains for industrial or bioremediation applications.