Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous and persistent pollutants having mutagenic and carcinogenic properties. Microbial metabolism is an alternative approach for removal of PAHs from polluted environment. Mixed bacterial cultures DAK11 capable for degrading mixture of PAHs was developed from long term polluted marine sediments. DAK11 was able to degrade 500 mg/L of mixture of four PAHs and their degradation efficiency was enhanced by supplementing commercially available NPK fertilizer (0.1%, w/v). Anionic surfactant SDS has enhanced the degradation of PAHs, but DAK11 growth was inhibited in presence of cationic surfactant CTAB. Heavy metals have decreased the rate of degradation, while it was completely inhibited in the presence of Zn²⁺ and CrO₄²⁻ (1mM). DAK11 was able to degrade PAHs in the presence of mono-aromatic hydrocarbons, lubricant oil and diesel. Lower molecular weight aromatic and aliphatic compounds were identified using GC–MS during metabolism of mixture of PHAs.

多环芳烃（PAH）是普遍存在的持久性污染物，具有诱变和致癌特性。微生物代谢是从污染环境中去除多环芳烃的另一种方法。从长期被污染的海洋沉积物中开发出了能够降解多环芳烃混合物的混合细菌培养物DAK11。DAK11能够降解500 mg / L的四种PAHs混合物，并通过添加市售的NPK肥料（0.1％，w / v）来提高其降解效率。阴离子表面活性剂SDS增强了PAHs的降解，但在阳离子表面活性剂CTAB的存在下DAK11的生长受到抑制。重金属降低了降解速率，而在Zn ²⁺和CrO ₄ ^2-的存在下却被完全抑制了（1mM）。在单芳香烃，润滑油和柴油的存在下，DAK11能够降解多环芳烃。在PHAs混合物的代谢过程中，使用GC-MS鉴定出了较低分子量的芳族和脂族化合物。