Comparative Study of Microbial Activities and Biodegradation-Abilities of Undefined Consortium in Some Hydrocarbon Contaminated Sites in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

O. O. Olanipekun; A. O. Ogunbayo; S. C. U. Nwachukwu; R. A. Bello

doi:10.4236/jep.2015.62016

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Journal of Environmental Protection > Vol.6 No.2, February 2015

Comparative Study of Microbial Activities and Biodegradation-Abilities of Undefined Consortium in Some Hydrocarbon Contaminated Sites in the Niger Delta, Nigeria ()

O. O. Olanipekun^1*, A. O. Ogunbayo¹, S. C. U. Nwachukwu², R. A. Bello¹

¹Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Lagos, Yaba, Lagos.
²Department of Microbiology, University of Lagos, Yaba, Lagos.

DOI: 10.4236/jep.2015.62016 PDF HTML XML 3,092 Downloads 3,532 Views Citations

Abstract

The microbial activities and the biodegradation-abilities of undefined consortium in contaminated soils in the Niger Delta of Nigeria were studied. The Respirametry technique was adopted to evaluate the microbial activities while the soils were incubated with 2% (υ/υ) crude oil in mineral salt medium at 37°;C in three stages of two weeks each in a shake flask. At the end of the last phase, components of the crude oil degraded by the undefined consortium in the soils were identified with the gas chromatographic techniques. The consortia of the different samples studied showed different degree of capacities on the crude oil, removing a large number of components of the crude oil, making the areas potentially suitable for in-situ bioremediation.

Keywords

Microbial Activities, Undefined Consortium, Crude Oil, In-Situ, Bioremediation

Share and Cite:

Olanipekun, O. , Ogunbayo, A. , Nwachukwu, S. and Bello, R. (2015) Comparative Study of Microbial Activities and Biodegradation-Abilities of Undefined Consortium in Some Hydrocarbon Contaminated Sites in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Journal of Environmental Protection, 6, 138-145. doi: 10.4236/jep.2015.62016.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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