Molecular Characterisation of Culturable Aerobic Hydrocarbon Utilising Bacteria and Fungi in Oil Polluted Soil at Ebubu-Ejama Community, Eleme, Rivers State, Nigeria

The research work aims to isolate and identify culturable hydrocarbon utilising bacteria and fungi, from an aged oil impacted soil and these organisms would be used as inoculants in bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon pollution. Culturable hydrocarbon utilising bacteria and fungi were harvested from aged oil impacted soil in Ebubu-Ejama Community, Eleme, Rivers State, Nigeria. The hydrocarbon utilising fungi and bacteria were isolated by using mineral salt agar, and petroleum hydrocarbon was supplied to the inoculated plates using the vapour phase technique. Genomic DNA of hydrocarbon utilising bacteria and fungi were extracted and subjected to Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). PCR amplified DNA of fungi and bacteria were sequenced by using BIG Dye Terminator Kit on a 3510 ABI sequencer. Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) sequence for fungi and 16S rRNA sequence for bacteria were identified using Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) algorithm of National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). ITS sequences for fungi shows proximal relatedness to Aspergillus aculeatus strain LrBF25 and Penicillium citrinum strain XQ39. The 16S Sequence for bacteria shows proximal relatedness to Alcaligenes faecalis strain VC-10, Alcaligenes faecalis strain 4339 and Bacillus cereus strain GOAA7MS06. Sequences of the hydrocarbon utilising bacteria and fungi were submitted to GenBank and their Accession numbers were F10: Aspergillus aculeatus MG738329; F11: Penicillium citrinum MG738328; B8: Alcaligenes faecalis MG738324; B9: Bacillus cereus MG738325 and B10: Alcaligenes faecalis MG738326. These organisms could be used to bioaugment the cleanup of petroleum hydrocarbon from the environment.