Hydrocarbonoclastic potentials of Enterobacteriaceae isolated from the crude oil polluted Iko river estuary and freshwater ecosystem of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Nkanang Abigail Johnny *, Antai Sylvester Peter, Asitok Atim David and Ekpenyong Maurice

Department of Microbiology, University of Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria
* Corresponding author
 
Research Article
GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2018, 02(01), 038–046.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gscbps.2018.2.1.0058
Publication history: 
Received on 23 November 2017; revised on 19 December 2017; accepted on 08 January 2018
 
Abstract: 
Hydrocarbonoclastic potentials of Enterobacteriaceae isolated from the crude oil polluted Iko river estuary and freshwater ecosystem of the Niger Delta was investigated. The isolation  of  crude oil   utilizing bacterial isolates  in water sample was carried out by surface spreading technique using diluents prepared with quarter strength Ringers solution and  cultured on oil agar medium (OAM). Of the 32 potential hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria from  crude oil impacted aquatic  ecosystem only eight isolates identified as; Citrobacter amalonaticus–Y1 (FSW); Proteus mirabilis strain–I(FSW), Pseudomonas  fluorescens–N (FSE); Citrobacter farmeri–Y12 (FSE), Citrobacter amalonaticus strain–Y2 (ESWS1), Enterobacter sp.–Y8 (ESWS3), Proteus mirabilis strain–K (ESWS1), Proteus penneri strain–O(ESES3)  were found to demonstrate strong hydrocarbonoclastic potentials  with variable levels of low pH and increase optical density and free carbon iv oxide production. The study revealed that Citrobacter amalonaticus strain–Y2 (ESWS1) of the family Enterobacteriaceae is a good candidate for bioaugmentation technique of bioremediation.
Keywords: 
Crude oil; Iko river; Hydrocarbonoclastic; Enterobacteriaceae; Bioaugmentation; Bioremediation
 
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