Abstract:
Surface water samples were collected from Mumbai High oil-field area and Goa Shipyard Ltd., and plated on nutrient agar and mineral salt medium (MSM) containing tributyltin chloride (TBTC) (0.4 mM). The total viable count of bacteria in the medium with TBTC ranged from 10 to 408 x 10(2) cfu/ml. The predominant bacterial colonies were isolated, purified and screened for utilization of TBTC as the sole source of carbon. Amongst these, five cultures showed prominent growth in MSM with 2 mM TBTC. Based on morphological, biochemical characteristics and phenogram, the isolates are grouped under Pseudomonas sp. and tentatively identified as Pseudomonas stutzeri [9(3A)], Pseudomonas fluorescens [3(4Sub)] and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (25W, 25B, 5Y(2)).
