Isolation of biosurfactant producing bacteria from Mangrove area

Biosurfactant, an amphipathic molecule, has been widely known to have many applications in several fields such as pharmaceutical, food, environmental, etc. Research on biosurfactants have been increased lately since they are environmentally friendly compared to synthetic surfactants. In this study, the potential bacteria that produce biosurfactants were isolated from Patuguran mangrove area, Pasuruan, East Java. Screening of potential biosurfactant-producing bacteria was carried out through inoculating into minimum salt medium and a hemolysis test on blood agar media. Moreover, the performance of biosurfactant produced was also evaluated based on their oil spreading activity, emulsification index (EI24), and surface tension reduction. A total of 9 isolates were grown on blood agar media and incubated at 37 °C for 24 hours. The result showed that 4 isolates were positive for red blood cell lysis indicated by the presence of a clear zone, namely B- TGP-2, B-TGC-1, B-MPP-1, and B-MPP-2. Among these isolates, the most potential isolate which have the highest emulsification and oil spreading activity was observed on biosurfactant produced by B-MPP-1. In addition, based on the result of surface tension measurement, the highest surface tension reduction was also performed by B-MPP-1 isolate. This isolate was further characterized by 16S rRNA sequence analysis and identified as Staphylococcus arlettae B-MPP-1.