Degradation of long-chain n-alkanes in soil microcosms by two actinobacteria

The ability of two recently isolated actinobacteria, that degrade medium and long chain n-alkanes in laboratory water medium, wasinvestigated in soil microcosms using different standard soils that were artificially contaminated with n-alkanes of different length(C12- C20- C24- C30). The two strains, identified as Nocardia sp. SoB and Gordonia sp. SoCp, revealed a similar high HC degradationefficiency with an average of 75% alkane degraded after 28 days incubation. A selectivity of bacteria towards n-alkanes of differentlength was detected as well as a consistent effect of soil texture and other soil physical chemical characteristics on degradation. It wasdemonstrated the specific aptitude of these selected strains towards specific environmental conditions.