Pyocyanin Assisting Biosurfactant Mediated Anti-shrimp Pathogen Activity and Crude Oil Recovery

Background: The unflagging engrossing biosurfactant, representing ecological substitute to their synthetic equivalent has gained enormous attention in the 21^st century and their potential applicability in food, medicine and petrochemical industries is being explored and expanding. Objectives: The current study deals with the applicability of pyocyanin and biosurfactant in crude oil recovery and use as a potential anti-shrimp pathogen agent. Materials and Methods: The bacterial strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa ENO-14 was explored for their biosurfactant production using Luria Bertani Broth and Bushnell-Haas Broth supplemented with 1% glucose under shaking condition and pyocyanin production using Luria Bertani Broth under static and shaking conditions. The highest concentration of biosurfactant (11.07±0.15mg/ml) was obtained after 48 h at 37°C in 200 rpm and the maximum production of pyocyanin (70.12±2.11 μg/ml) was observed after 96 h at 37°C under static condition. Further Emulsification activity was evaluated using cell-free supernatant, biosurfactant alone and a combination of pyocyanin (0.01%) and biosurfactant (0.1%). Finally, the produced pyocyanin and biosurfactant were used as anti-shrimp pathogen activity by agar well diffusion assay and in crude oil recovery by sand pack column. Results: 100 % emulsification were observed for the crude oil when treated with pyocyanin and biosurfactant in a union. The noteworthy outcome of this experiment is the prominent role played by pyocyanin in enhancing the emulsification of hydrocarbons. Moreover, as a novel observation, there was an additional significant increase (80%) of residual oil recovered by sand pack column when both pyocyanin and biosurfactant were tested in conjunction as compared to the recovery obtained when biosurfactant was administered alone (65%). Furthermore, both the compounds exhibited significant anti-shrimp pathogen activity. Conclusion: Therefore, biosurfactant and pyocyanin could have promising applications in the aquaculture and petrochemical industries.