Biosurfactant Production and Growth Kinetics Studies of the Waste Canola Oil-Degrading Bacterium AQ5-07 from Antarctica.

With the progressive increase in human activities in the Antarctic region, the possibility of domestic oil spillage also increases. Developing means for the removal of oils, such as canola oil, from the environment and waste "grey" water using biological approaches is therefore desirable, since the thermal process of oil degradation is expensive and ineffective. Thus, in this study an indigenous cold-adapted Antarctic soil bacterium, strain AQ5-07, was screened for biosurfactant production ability using the multiple approaches of blood haemolysis, surface tension, emulsification index, oil spreading, drop collapse and "MATH" assay for cellular hydrophobicity.

Batch growth kinetic studies of locally isolated cyanide-degrading strain AQ07.

The evaluation of degradation and growth kinetics of strain AQ07 was carried out using three half-order models at all the initial concentrations of cyanide with the values of regression exceeding 0.97. The presence of varying cyanide concentrations reveals that the growth and degradation of bacteria were affected by the increase in cyanide concentration with a total halt at 700 ppm KCN after 72 h incubation.

Enhanced caffeine degradation by immobilised cells of Leifsonia sp. strain SIU.

In a previous study, we isolated Leifsonia sp. strain SIU, a new bacterium from agricultured soil. The bacterium was tested for its ability to degrade caffeine.

Application of response surface methodology for optimising caffeine-degrading parameters by Leifsonia sp. strain SIU.

Caffeine is an important naturally occurring compound which can be degraded by bacteria. Previously, Leifsonia sp. strain SIU capable of degrading caffeine was isolated from agricultural soil.