Ngoma Tsaty Veronique Junior

Soil pollution by hydrocarbons is a major environmental problem, particularly in oil-producing countries that are developing. The objective of this work is to carry out the bioprospecting of cassava press water and garage soil substrates with bioremediating power. Thus, apart from the physic-chemical characterization of cassava press water and garage soil substrates, the contents of trace elements such as sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), and magnesium (Mg) were evaluated. These results showed that organic matter (22%) is abundant, moisture (1.05%) is low, and both substrates had an acidic pH (5-6) favorable to the formation of organic acids. In addition, the petroleum hydrocarbon content (TPH = 8.67%) showed a selectivity of microorganisms to grow in polluted soils. The NT2 and VJ5 strains, isolated from cassava press water and garage soil, respectively, exhibited similar optical density values (0.20) during the tolerance test with hydrocarbons. Finally, the NT2 strain is a Gram-positive bacterium with emulsifying activity (24,67) and its identification by Sanger sequencing revealed that it is the genus Bacillus sp. Cassava press water can be an interesting matrix to be used for the bioremediation of environments polluted by hydrocarbons.