Screening of Active Oil Destructors from Various Zones of Urban Soils (on the Example of Baku)

Active cultures of hydrocarbon-decomposing microorganisms from soils of various functional zones of Baku were screened. It was shown that 15 cultures of hydrocarbon-decomposing microorganisms isolated as a result of continuous screening belonged to the genera Rhodococcus, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Mycobacterium, Actinomyces, Arthrobacter, Micrococcus and were able to use various hydrocarbons (crude oil, paraffin and aromatic hydrocarbons and petroleum products) as the only source of carbon and energy. According to the degree of decomposition, petroleum hydrocarbons were ranked in the series: a mixture of paraffins > petroleum products > aromatic hydrocarbons > crude oil, while the most active strains of microorganisms were isolated from the soils of the industrial and transport zones of Baku, compared with the soils of the recreational zone. The isolated active strains can be considered promising for the creation of biological products to increase soil resistance to pollutants and activate the processes of self-purification of already contaminated soils.