Biodegradation of Benzene under Anaerobic Condition using Enriched Microbial Culture

Benzene is a highly toxic organic contaminant having carcinogenic potential and a serious ground water contaminant. Refinery industry is a major source of benzene contamination in the environment. The present paper focuses on biodegradation of benzene under anaerobic condition by using enriched microbial consortium. Enriched bacterial isolates, identified by 16S rRNA sequencing technique were taxonomically 99% similar to Bacillus cereus strain BC2, Citrobacter freundii strain : A11-1, Bacillus cereus strain SS263-3, Brevibacterium linens strain S402003. A bioreactor was designed & developed for the study of biodegradation of benzene with different concentrations (5, 10, 25 ppm). 94.3 % degradation was observed in 5 ppm followed by 10 and 25 ppm i.e. 67.08 % & 51.3 % respectively. Results of this study indicated that these genera may play an active role in bioremediation of benzene.