Time (h) Bacterial growth in Pseudomonas broth Bacterial growth in 40X BHC+ salts Bacterial growth in salts alone O.D550* O.D550* O.D550* 0 0.03 ± 0.002 0.03 ± 0.003 0.03 ± 0.005 24 0.69 ± 0.010 0.06 ± 0.005 0.02 ± 0.002 48 1.81 ± 0.520 0.18 ± 0.048 0.02 ± 0.001 72 1.50 ± 0.610 0.18 ± 0.042 0.02 ± 0.002 *O.D. values are given as the statistical mean of the three independent experiments carried out using experimental tubes in triplicate

Table 7: BHC utilization effi ciency of the test Pseudomonas fl uorescens SM1 strain as a carbon source.