Effect of pH, Temperature, and Nutrient Supplement on the Growth of Micrococcus Luteus and on its Biodegradation of Crude Oil Hydrocarbons

The effect of pH, temperature and nutrient supplement on the growth of Micrococcus luteus and its rate of biodegradation of crude oil hydrocarbons obtained from a crude oil contaminated farmland in Ekpe East Local Government Area of Rivers State was studied following laboratory simulation of the stated factors and monitoring the growth and the residual oil. This was done under five different pH values, five different temperature values and five different nutrient concentrations. The bacterium was isolated from crude oil contaminated farmland by enrichment culture method. The growth of the organism was found to be highest at a temperature of 43.7^OC and biodegradation of the crude oil was 78%. The highest growth under pH was at pH 8.0 while 71% hydrocarbon was removed. The result for the nutrient supplementation gave 65% crude oil degradation with the highest growth at the nutrient concentration of 0.434g/ml oil. This nutrient concentration corresponds to carbon to nitrogen (C: N) ratio of 10:2.