ABSTRACT A total of 15 fungal isolates were obtained from oil-contaminated sites near the Red Sea in the Yanbu region. Based on the preliminary DCPIP (2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol) assay, three isolates showed promising oil degrading ability. The next-generation sequencing of the ITS - I and ITS - II internal transcribed spacer regions assigned the isolates to Aspergillus and Penicillium . Among these three strains, Y2 ( Aspergillus oryzae ) was the most efficient, degrading about 99% of the crude oil. The degradation rates were corroborated using spectrophotometric and gas chromatography?￠????mass spectrometry analyses after two weeks of cultivation in Bushnell?￠????Haas medium. All the three strains proved to be potent oil-degrading strains and, hence, can be utilized to degrade oil contaminants.
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