The aim of the present study was to investigate biosurfactant-producing culturable bacteria inhabiting the coast of the Arabian Sea at Karachi. Overall, 15 seawater samples were collected from the Arabian Sea coast of Karachi. Isolation, characterization and screening for 89 biosurfactant-producing bacterial strains were conducted through 8 conventional screening tests. | Turkish Journal of Biology Research Article Turk J Biol (2015) 39: 210-216 © TÜBİTAK doi: Screening and characterization of biosurfactant-producing bacteria isolated from the Arabian Sea coast of Karachi Erum SHOEB*, Nuzhat AHMED, Jameela AKHTER, Uzma BADAR, Khaizran SIDDIQUI, Faiza A. ANSARI, Maheen WAQAR, Samina IMTIAZ, Nimrah AKHTAR, Qurat ul Ain SHAIKH, Roaunq BAIG, Saba BUTT, Saema KHAN, Sidra KHAN, Shahid HUSSAIN, Bashir AHMED, Maqsood A. ANSARI Department of Genetics, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan Received: Accepted: Published Online: Printed: Abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate biosurfactant-producing culturable bacteria inhabiting the coast of the Arabian Sea at Karachi. Overall, 15 seawater samples were collected from the Arabian Sea coast of Karachi. Isolation, characterization, and screening for 89 biosurfactant-producing bacterial strains were conducted through 8 conventional screening tests. Through GSP agar plate method 22 strains were found to be Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram reaction revealed 70% of the isolates to be gramnegative. Furthermore, 24% of the isolates showed hemolytic activity, 44% exhibited positive results for oil-spreading test, 54% showed emulsification to at least 1 of the 3 hydrocarbons tested, BATH assay results indicated maximum adhesion for hexane, produced positive results for CTAB agar plate assay, drop-collapse activity was found in 84% of the isolates, and emulsification assay revealed highest emulsification for xylene. Findings revealed none of the isolates to be negative for every screening test conducted, while only one gram-negative isolate, DGHE65, identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, was positive for all the tests for biosurfactant production. Results indicate that these isolates have potential for future environmental friendly applications such as bioremediation and
