Distribution of actinomycetes in oil contaminated ultisols of the Niger Delta (Nigeria)

The distribution of actinomycetes in oil contaminated sandy loam ultisols of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria was studied to aid in understanding the effect of hydrocarbons on indigenous microbial population in tropical soils. The average total counts of actinomycetes in all the oil samples analysed was 103 cfu/g. Higher counts of actinomycetes were observed during the dry season than during the wet season. The counts of hydrocarbonoclastic actinomycetes correlated positively with the total count of actinomycetes.The actinomycetes were generally restricted to the top soil(0-10 cm soil depth) although a seemingly deeper(down to 40 cm soil depth) distribution was noticed in the dry season. The isolates included oil degrading species of Actinoplanes, Norcadia,Streptomyces and Streptosporangium. Their high oil utilization ability indicates their positive potential and role in the bioremediation of oil-spilled soils.     

Ecological risks of phenolic endocrine disrupting compounds in an urban tropical river

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The distribution of emerging organic contaminants in drinking water sources in Africa is a subject with very scanty data and information. In order to...     

Lead levels in Chromolaena odorata (Compositae) along rural and urban roads in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＣｈｒｏｍｏｌａｅｎａｏｄｏｒａｔａ（Ｅｕｐａｔｏｒｉｕｍｏｄｏｒａｔｕｍ），ｃｏｍｍｏｎｌｙｃａｌｌｅｄ“ｓｉａｍｗｅｅｄ”ｗａｓｉｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｅｄｉｎｔｏＮｉｇｅｒｉａａｂｏｕｔ３０ｙｅａｒｓａｇｏ．Ｉｔｉｓａｓｔｒｏｎｇｌｙｓｃｅｎｔｅｄ，ｄｉｆｆｕｓｅ，ａｎｄｒａｐｉｄｌｙｇｒｏｗｉｎｇｈｅｒｂｔｈａｔｃａｎａｔｔａｉｎａｈｅｉｇｈｔｏｆ３－０ｍｅｔｅｒｓｏｒｍｏｒｅ．Ｉｔｉｓｌｏｃａｌｌｙｃａｌｌｅｄ“ｏｗｏｔｏｗｏ”ｂｅｃａｕｓｅａｔｉｔｓｄｅｂｕｔｉｔｗａ…     

Distribution of actinomycetes in oil contaminated ultisols of the Niger Delta (Nigeria)

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＡｃｔｉｎｏｍｙｃｅｔｅｓ(ｆｉｌａｍｅｎｔｏｕｓｂａｃｔｅｒｉａ)ｃｏｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅａｇｒｏｕｐｏｆｍｉｃｒｏｏｒｇａｎｉｓｍｓｔｈａｔｉｓｗｉｄｅｌｙｄｉｓｔｒｉｂｕｔｅｄｉｎｓｏｉｌ.Ｐｌａｔｉｎｇｅｓｔｉｍａｔｅｓｇｉｖｅｖａｌｕｅｓｒａｎｇｉｎｇｂｅｔｗｅｅｎ 10 5ａｎｄ 10 8ｃｏｌｏｎｙｆｏｒｍｉｎｇｕｎｉｔｓ(ｃｆｕ) ｐｅｒｇｒａｍｏｆｓｏｉｌｉｎｔｅｍｐｅｒａｔｅｚｏｎｅａｌｔｈｏｕｇｈｌｏｗｅｒｖａｌｕｅｓｈａｖｅｂｅｅｎｒｅｃｏｒｄｅｄｉｎｔｈｅｒｅｇｉｏ…     

Bioamendment of petroleum contaminated ultisol: effect on oil content, heavy metals and pH of tropical soil

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＭｏｓｔｓｏｉｌｐｏｌｌｕｔｉｏｎｓｉｔｕａｔｉｏｎｓｉｎｖｏｌｖｅｓｅｖｅｒａｌｐｏｌｌｕｔａｎｔｓａｃｔｉｎｇｓｉｍｕｌｔａｎｅｏｕｓｌｙ .Ｔｈｅｐｒａｃｔｉｃａｌａｓｓｅｓｓｍｅｎｔｏｆｔｈｅｏｖｅｒａｌｌｔｏｘｉｃｉｔｙｈａｓｔｈｅｒｅｆｏｒｅｒｅｍａｉｎｅｄａｍａｊｏｒｐｒｏｂｌｅｍ .ＡｍｏｎｇｔｈｅｎｅｇａｔｉｖｅｅｆｆｅｃｔｓｏｆｅｘｐｌｏｒａｔｉｏｎａｎｄｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎａｃｔｉｖｉｔｉｅｓｉｎｏｉｌｐｒｏｄｕｃｉｎｇｃｏｍｍｕｎｉｔｉｅｓｉｎＮｉｇｅ…     

Chromatium species: an emerging bioindicator of crude oil pollution of tidal mud flats in the Niger Delta mangrove ecosystem, Nigeria

Establishing microbiological indices for the monitoring of environmental decay by crude oil pollution in the Niger Delta region has been a major concern of our current researches. Chromatium species, a purple, Gram positive pleomorphic, motile, microaerophlic sulfur bacterium offers a good potential for use in the assessment of the short term effects of oil pollution of tidal mud flats in the Niger Delta mangrove ecosystem. Its response to the November 22, 2003 spillage at the Qua Iboe Estuary and the adjoining Cross River Estuary was investigated. Our results have revealed that the sulphur bacterium is easily identified and widely distributed in the epipellic sediment of the mangrove ecosystem but very sensitive to hydrocarbon pollution. The bacterium was readily detected in the tidal mud flats containing as much as 2.0 mg kg(-1) but not detected in sediment with THC level of 3.65 mg kg(-1) and above. It is thus, suggestive that the threshold and lethal limits of effect of hydrocarbons against the sulfur bacterium lies between 2.04 and 3.65 mg kg(-1). These imply that in any case of crude oil pollution that Chromatium is not detected during monitoring the THC levels of the sediment may have been raised to a level close to or above 3.65 mg kg(-1). Statistical analysis of the relationship between THC level and density of Chromatium in sediment revealed a significant (p < 0.05) negative relationship (r = -0.85) in Qua Iboe mangrove ecosystem as against an insignificant (p > 0.05) relationship (r = -0.41) recorded for the Cross River mangrove ecosystem which served as the control. The result indicates that oil pollution affect the homeostatic status of Chromatium in tidal mud flats despite its even distribution (R2 = 71.4%). The finding though not definitive may contribute to the hierarchical process of oil pollution assessment in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. However, its effective utilization will require not only the development of a selective medium for enumeration and isolation of the bacterium but also the establishment of a defined dose-response relationship under controlled conditions which requires further research.     

Hydrocarbons contamination and microbial degradation in mangrove sediments of the Niger Delta region (Nigeria)

The distribution of aliphatic hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and their degradability by bacteria in epipelic and benthic sediments from Qua Iboe Estuary mangrove ecosystem and associated creeks were investigated. The research findings revealed that total aliphatic hydrocarbons in sediments ranged from 16.82 mg·kg ^?1 to 210 mg kg ^?1, wheras total PAHs ranged from 6.30 to 35.55 mg·kg ^?1 dry weight of sediment. Low molecular mass (i.e. the 2–3-ring) PAHs were predominant in almost all the sampling points, whereas the higher molecular masses (4-, 5- and 6-ring PAHs) had the lowest concentrations. In general, the sediment samples ES ₂ (39.7%), ES ₃ (24.8%), BS ₁ (46.7%), BS ₂ (49.9%) and BS ₃ (44.2%) showed<50% contributions of Σ combustion–derived PAH (COMP-PAH) concentration to the Σ PAH concentrations, whereas ES ₁ (57%) contained>50% of COMP-PAHs. Our results have also shown that many mangrove bacteria have strong capacity to utilise Qua Iboe Light (QL) crude oil as the sole source of carbon and energy, while lower number of bacterial species including Bacillus sp., Micrococcus sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Alcaligenes sp. and Flavobacterium sp. exhibited detectable PAHs degradability; and as such may serve as efficient degraders of QL crude oil contamination of mangrove ecosystem.     

Effective and reusable nano-silica synthesized from barley and wheat grass for the removal of nickel from agricultural wastewater

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In the present study, a comparative analysis was performed on the extraction of nickel ions (Ni2+) from agricultural wastewater using nanosilica (NS)...     

Petroleum hydrocarbons and limiting nutrients in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Macura reptantia</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Procambarus clarkii</Emphasis> and benthic sediment from Qua Iboe Estuary,Nigeria

The levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons in two commonly consumed benthopelagic shellfishes, Macura reptantia and Procambarus clarkii, harvested from benthic sediment of Qua Iboe Estuary were determined using a gas chromatography with flame-ionization detector. Seventy-two (72) samples each of benthic sediment and the shellfishes were collected monthly between June 2003 and February 2004 covering the peak periods of the wet and dry seasons. Concentrations of hydrocarbons were highly variable and ranged between 5.00 and 232.00 μg/g dry weight of benthic sediment, 3.05 and 11.30 μg/g dry weight of M. reptantia, 1.62 and 9.00 μg/g dry weight of P. clarkii. Pearson’s correlation analysis of total hydrocarbon concentrations in subtidal sediments with levels in the fauna species yielded positive significant (P < 0.05) correlations in M. reptantia (r = 0.737) and P. clarkii (r = 0.924). This is indicative of a long term and chronic accumulation of hydrocarbons in the estuarine ecosystem, reflecting the potential for exposure of the resident biota and the risk to human health.