Thermophilic Bacteria Investigation in Petroleum Contaminated Soils by Different Isolation Method

There are many and various microorganisms earth flora, ranging from macroscopic to microscopic forms. When soil ecosystem is contaminated by complex compounds and heavy metals, which are difficult to separate from each other, in petroleum and petroleum derived products, for that reason it would be unable to utilization of soil due to decomposition of its physical, chemical and biological characteristics. Biological decomposition of petroleum and petroleum derived products by natural microorganism populations, is the primary mechanism for eliminating the petroleum and other hydrocarbon pollution of environment. The purpose of this study is to research the best isolation method on the isolation of thermophilic bacteria from the soils which are contaminated by petroleum and petroleum derived products. Recent studies related to thermophilic bacteria have been intensified since these bacteria are more resistant to extreme environmental conditions than other bacteria species. With this purpose, 4 different isolation methods have been investigated in isolating the thermophilic bacteria from the petroleum contaminated soil which is contaminated by petroleum and petroleum products. At the end of the research, in order to identify bacteria colonies which are considered to be pure, DNA isolation, Conventional PCR (polymerase chain reaction) Process, Gel Electrophoresis processes are applied.  Different incubation times, carbon resources and enrichment solutions are tried out to obtain a superior method and it is revealed that with the increase in the incubation period, more known/unknown species can be isolated without using additional carbon source from the soil.