J o u r n a l o f M i c r o b i a l & B i o c h e m i c a l T e c h n o l o g y ISSN: 1948-5948 Journal of Microbial & Biochemical Technology OPEN ACCESS Freely available online Research Article 1 J Microb Biochem Technol, Vol. 11 Iss. 5 No: 425 Synergistic Capability of Bacterial-fungal Co-culture to Degrade Drill Cutting Hydrocarbon Desi Utami, Donny Widianto, Muhammad Saifur Rohman, Heri Hendro Satriyo, Sheila, Julia Anggun, and Irfan Dwidya Prijambada* Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia ABSTRACT Petroleum is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons. No single species of microorganisms is able to degrade all components of the petroleum. Mutually beneficial interaction of microorganisms in the form of a consortium is required during the process of oil degradation. One form of mutually beneficial interaction between fungi and bacteria is biofilm formed by bacteria on fungal surface. The formation of bacterial biofilm on fungal surface was reported to increase the synergistic action of the two microorganisms in destroying certain complex compounds. This work was aimed to assess the capacity of hydrocarbon degrading-bacterial biofilm on the surface of hydrocarbon degrading-fungal surface to degrade hydrocarbons derived from drill cuttings. The hydrocarbon degrading-soil bacteria and fungi were isolated from different area in Yogyakarta, Indonesia after enrichment. The ability of bacteria to form biofilm on the surface of fungal hyphae was examined under light microscope with 1000x magnification after the addition of lactophenol. The effect of microbial amendment in the form of biofilm, in comparison with the planktonic culture, on degradation of hydrocarbons derived from drill cuttings were assessed by measuring the extractable petroleum hydrocarbon. The results showed that co-culture between fungi and bacteria which one among them or both of them have low ability to degrade hydrocarbon may significantly improve their ability and the ability of the co-culture to degrade hydrocarbon has no relationship with the ability of the bacteria to form biofilm on the surface of the fungal hyphae. Keywords: Bacteria; Biofilm; Fungi; Hydrocarbon Correspondence to: Irfan Dwidya Prijambada, Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jalan Flora No. 1, 55782 Bulaksumur, Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Tel: +62 274 523065; Fax: +62 274 563062; E-mail: irfan_ prijambada@mail.ugm.ac.id Received: July 04, 2019; Accepted: August 27, 2019; Published: September 3, 2019 Citation: Utami D, Widianto D, Rohman MS, Satriyo HH, Sheila, Anggun J, et al. (2019) Synergistic Capability of Bacterial-fungal Co- culture to Degrade Drill Cutting Hydrocarbon. J Microb Biochem Technol. 11:425. doi: 10.35248/1948-5948.19.11.425 Copyright: © 2019 Utami D, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. INTRODUCTION Petroleum is a complex mixture of molecules, predominantly hydrocarbons. There are several hundred individual hydrocarbon chemicals that make up petroleum hydrocarbon. In high concentrations, these hydrocarbon molecules have a high toxicity against multiple organisms, including humans. Microorganisms play an important role in degrading petroleum compounds in polluted environments. The process of degradation of pollutant compounds by microorganisms is called biodegradation. Complexity petroleum hydrocarbon constituent causes the inability of a single species of microorganisms to degrade the overall components of the petroleum as each species of microorganisms can metabolize only a limited number of hydrocarbon substrates. Mutually beneficial interaction in the form of a consortium is required during the process of oil degradation [1-4]. Over the last few years the use of biofilms for biodegradation purposes has become a major focus of researchers. Biofilms are communities of microorganisms which grow and attach to a surface. The cells in the communities often bound one another by a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Biofilm formation is a way of microorganisms to protect themselves from physical and chemical environmental stress and to survive in nutrient-poor environments. Biofilms not only can be formed from the same types of microbes but they also can be formed from different microorganisms. One form of biofilm formed by different microbes are bacterial biofilms on fungal surface. In this type of biofilm, fungi act as a provider of solid surfaces for bacteria to stick to bacteria do not just use the surface of the fungal mycelium as a place of life but they also formed a special interaction with the fungus. The interaction basically provides an ideal environment for the formation of syntropic relationship between bacteria and