Hydrocarbon Biodegradation by Endophytic Bacteria from Neem Leaves

An attempt has been made to isolate endophytic bacteria with hydrocarbon degradation potential from neem leaves (Azadirachta indica). Fifty two endophytic bacteria were isolated from neem leaves following pre-sterilisation and were screened for hydrocarbon biodegradation potential. Totally eight bacterial isolates showed positive reaction out of which two isolates showed prominent potential for hydrocarbon degradation within 3 days. Based on Bergey's manual of Systematic Bacteriology, both the strains were identified as: Bacillus sp and Pseudomonas sp. Molecular characterisation and phylogenetic analysis support the classification of both the isolates as new strains as they showed around 96% and 98% similarity with Bacillus licheniformis and Pseudomonas stutzeri respectively, by performing BLAST search in NCBI database. The 16S rRNA sequences of both the isolates were deposited in Genbank under the accession number KF909124 and KF909125, respectively.