BTEX degradation by the coculture of S. fonticola and M. esteraromaticum

The increasing demand for petroleum hydrocarbons has led to rising levels of high-risk pollutants such as Benzene-Toluene-Ethylbenzene-Xylene (BTEX) in the environment, and widely recognized for their carcinogenic nature. This study evaluates the potential tolerance and the single and multi-compound degradation of BTEX compounds by a coculture of Serratia fonticola and Microbacterium esteraromaticum . Batch treatments were conducted in synthetic media, supplemented with 30 mg L −1 of benzene, xylene, toluene and ethylbenzene for a single compound degradation test and with 120 mg L −1 of BTEX compounds in a 1:1:1:1 ratio (equal weight-based contributions) for a multiple compound degradation test. Coculture showed a BTEX multicompound degradation of 47 %, which is 5 % and 2 % higher degradation than the one achieved by S. fonticola and M. esteraromaticum , respectively. Degradation for single-compound shows 99 % for benzene, 85 % for ethylbenzene, 72 % for toluene, and 62 % for xylene. These findings provide new insights into bacterial coculture interactions under mixed-contaminant stress , its biodegradation performance and provide a strong basis for developing tailored bioremediation strategies in both single-compound and multi-compound degradation of BTEX. Furthermore, the glucose consumption and BTEX tolerance could serve as potential indicators for monitoring of the progress and efficacy of BTEX remediation in contaminated environments. • Coculture demonstrated high tolerance and growth in toluene and benzene presence. • Coculture outperformed individual strains in benzene and toluene degradation. • Enhanced BTEX multi-compound degradation (47.2 %) was achieved by coculture. • Multi-compound BTEX degradation was boosted by co-metabolism in coculture.