The prospects of using bacteria of the genus Rhodococcus and microbial surfactants for the degradation of oil pollutants

The possibility of accelerating oil degradation by an enrichment culture of oil-oxidizing microorganisms in the presence of bacteria of the genus Rhodococcus and microbial surfactants was studied. It was shown that the degree of consumption of crude oil (2vol %) after 192 h of enrichment culture growth reached 84%. Inoculation of the active hydrocarbon-oxidizing strain Rhodococcus erythropolis EK-1 and exogenous surfactants produced by Pseudomonas sp. PS-27 increased this degree to 90 and 93-94%, respectively. On the grounds of these results, efficient methods of purification of the environment from oil pollutants can be developed.