Screening, Isolation and Molecular
Characterization of Biosurfactants
Producing Serratia Marcescens
from Petrochemical Exposed Site
V. Vijayalekshmi, P. Muthukumaran, and Aravind Jeyaseelan
Abstract The present study was taken up to test the soil sample isolated from
an automobile workshop located at Coimbatore for the presence of biosurfactant
producing bacteria. Ten isolates were initially screened from the soil collected
from the petrochemical exposed site. Isolation was done in the minimal salt
medium, and this was followed by screening for the biosurfactant production through
three different methods, namely emulsification index, oil displacement activity and
hemolytic assay. In comparison with all the three screening methods, two best isolates
were chosen and was then subjected to mass production in the mineral salt medium
for biosurfactants generation. The isolate identified as Serratia marcescens through
16S rRNA sequencing. Pinkish red-coloured occurrence was observed during the
mass production, which may be possibly due to pigmentation. The extracted biosurfactants were analyzed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra. The
potent nature of the soil collected from the contaminated petrochemical site for the
production of biosurfactants has a remarkable growth prospective, sourcing as a better
replacement to the increasing environmental concern associated with the chemical
surfactants.
Keywords Bacteria · Biosurfactants · Emulsification index · Extraction · Serriatia
marcescens
V. Vijayalekshmi · P. Muthukumaran (B)
Department of Biotechnology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore 641 049, India
e-mail: m.kumaran005@gmail.com
A. Jeyaseelan (B)
Department of Civil Engineering, Dhirajlal Gandhi College of Technology, Omalur 636309,
Tamilnadu, India
e-mail: dr.j.aravind@gmail.com
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Prashanthi et al. (eds.), Bioremediation and Green Technologies, Environmental
Science and Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64122-1_17
243
Characterization of Biosurfactants
Producing Serratia Marcescens
from Petrochemical Exposed Site
V. Vijayalekshmi, P. Muthukumaran, and Aravind Jeyaseelan
Abstract The present study was taken up to test the soil sample isolated from
an automobile workshop located at Coimbatore for the presence of biosurfactant
producing bacteria. Ten isolates were initially screened from the soil collected
from the petrochemical exposed site. Isolation was done in the minimal salt
medium, and this was followed by screening for the biosurfactant production through
three different methods, namely emulsification index, oil displacement activity and
hemolytic assay. In comparison with all the three screening methods, two best isolates
were chosen and was then subjected to mass production in the mineral salt medium
for biosurfactants generation. The isolate identified as Serratia marcescens through
16S rRNA sequencing. Pinkish red-coloured occurrence was observed during the
mass production, which may be possibly due to pigmentation. The extracted biosurfactants were analyzed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra. The
potent nature of the soil collected from the contaminated petrochemical site for the
production of biosurfactants has a remarkable growth prospective, sourcing as a better
replacement to the increasing environmental concern associated with the chemical
surfactants.
Keywords Bacteria · Biosurfactants · Emulsification index · Extraction · Serriatia
marcescens
V. Vijayalekshmi · P. Muthukumaran (B)
Department of Biotechnology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore 641 049, India
e-mail: m.kumaran005@gmail.com
A. Jeyaseelan (B)
Department of Civil Engineering, Dhirajlal Gandhi College of Technology, Omalur 636309,
Tamilnadu, India
e-mail: dr.j.aravind@gmail.com
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Prashanthi et al. (eds.), Bioremediation and Green Technologies, Environmental
Science and Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64122-1_17
243