This study was designed to assess the total heterotrophic and hydrocarbon oxidizing microbial diversity, determine the physicochemical parameters of oil contaminated soil and evaluate the potentials of microorganisms isolated to utilize spent oil. Three mechanic workshops within Calabar South axis of Cross River State Nigeria were selected and three soil samples were collected from each site. The total heterotrophic bacteria were enumerated on nutrient agar and the hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria on minimal salt medium using the vapor phase method after employing the ten-fold dilutions from 1:10 to 1:100000. The total heterotrophic mean count ranged from 1.28×10 4 to 3.58×10 4 cfu/g while mean count of hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria varied from 1.94×10 4 to 7.34×10 4 cfu/g. Physicochemical parameters of samples were determined. Such parameters included pH, electrical conductivity and compounds such as nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, calcium, magnesium and potassium. The bacterial isolates evaluated belonged to the genera of Bacillus, Klebsiella, Proteus, Pseudomonas, Enterococcus, Flavobacterium and Micrococcus spp. Klebsiella spp. emerged as the most prevalent heterotrophic bacteria with 29.41% while Bacillus spp, and Enterococcus spp. were Original Research Article JAMB, 4(4): 1-9, 2017; Article no.JAMB.34847 2 the least prevalent with 11.77%. Among the hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria, Pseudomonas flourescens was the most prevalent species with 53.85% while Micrococcus spp. was the least with 15.39%. Amongst the 3 different sites studied, the mechanic workshop at Goldie Street had the highest mean value for both heterotrophic and hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria ranging from 2.52x10 4 to 3.58 x10 4 cfu/g for total heterotrophs and 3.27x10 4 to 7.34x10 4 cfu/g for hydrocarbon utilizers. The findings reveal that there is a high prevalence of certain populations of active indigenous hydrocarbon oxidizing bacteria which can be monitored and enhanced to bring about bioremediation in the study area.

The continuous emergence of multidrug resistant pathogens is a major global health concern. Although antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have shown promise as a possible means of combatting multidrug resistant strains without readily engendering resistance, costs of production and targeting by proteases limit their utility. Ceragenins are non-peptide AMP mimics that overcome these shortcomings while retaining broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. To further characterize the antibacterial activities of ceragenins, their activities against a collection of environmental isolates of bacteria were determined. These isolates were isolated in Nigeria from plants and water. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of selected ceragenins and currently available antimicrobials against these isolates were measured to determine resistance patterns. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), we examined the morphological changes in bacterial membranes following treatment with ceragenins. Finally, we investigated the effectiveness of ceragenins in inhibiting biofilm formation and destroying established biofilms. We found that, despite high resistance to many currently available antimicrobials, including colistin, environmental isolates in planktonic and biofilm forms remain susceptible to ceragenins. Additionally, SEM and confocal images of ceragenin-treated cells confirmed the effective antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of ceragenins.

Tap water samples collected from different halls in Malabor hostel were analyzed for total heterotrophic bacteria count, total and faecal coliform counts using direct plating and membrane filtration methods. Total heterotrophic bacterial counts ranged from 3 to 80 cfu/ml, corresponding to the total heterotrophic bacterial counts obtained from Hall 4 and Hall 9 samples respectively. Total coliform counts ranged from 28 cfu/ml to 126 cfu/ml, corresponding to the total coliform counts obtained from Hall4 and Hall9, respectively. No faecal coliform was detected at 35-37°C in all samples even after 72 hours of incubation. Bacterial isolates identified include: Listeria monocytogenes, Erwinia stewartii, Legionella pneumophilia, Carnobacterium gallinarum, Staphylococcus caseolyticus, Enterobacter dissolves, Pseudomonas mallei, Klebsiella pneumonia, Aeromonas media and Lactobacillus sp. Lactobacillus sp. had the highest percentage of occurrence (23%). The physicochemical and heavy metal quality of samples were compared with WHO and SON standards for drinking-water, and results showed that samples were too acidic and contained an unhealthy amount of Aluminum ion (Al 3+).

The evaluation of microbiological and heavy metals concentration of oil contaminated soil samples from three different locations, thus; Okurikang, Inuakpa and Creek Town of Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State was investigated. The Total Heterotrophic Bacteria (THB) count ranged from 1.09x10 3 to 3.6x10 3 cfu/ml, 1.11x10 3 to 6.4x10 3 cfu/ml, and 1.26x10 3 to 4.6X10 3 cfu/ml for the three locations respectively and the Hydrocarbon Utilizing bacteria (HUB) population obtained ranged from 2.28×10 3 to 7.24×10 3 cfu/ml, 1.63×10 3 to 6.96×10 3 cfu/ml and 1.62×10 3 to 7.57×10 3 cfu/ml respectively foSr the three locations. The percentage occurrence of bacteria isolates for THB includes; Enterobacter cloacae 27.27%, Lactobacillus sp 45.45%, Mycobacterium sp 18.18% and Enterobacter aerogenese 9.09%, the percentage occurrence of bacteria isolates for HUB includes; Acinetobacter calcoaccticus 18.18%, Micrococcus sp 36.36% and Pseudomonas aeruginosa 45.45%. The levels of physicochemical properties; pH, Nitrate, Nitrite, Phosphate, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Lead, Cobalt, Nickel, Iron, Ammonia and electrical conductivity obtained varied greatly with each soil sample. These findings provide adequate information on the microbial levels and heavy metals concentration of oil contaminated soil in Odukpani, Nigeria.

Raw milk is a milk that has not undergone pasteurization for an effective pathogen elimination, thus having a reduced shelf life due to microbial activities. Microorganisms such as bacteria can affect the quality of diary products, hence the need to assess the microbial quality of natural cow milk, pasteurized milk and processed tin-milk which are consumed on daily basis in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large. In this study, raw (unpasteurized) and processed milk samples from two locations (Bogobiri and Watt market) in Calabar municipal were analyzed using methylene blue reduction test (MBRT), total heterotrophic bacterial count (THBC) and total coliform count (TCC). The total Heterotrophic bacterial count ranged from too numerous to count (TNTC) to 3.86 x 106 colony forming unit (CFU)/milliliter (ml) in samples MA (Unpasteurized/Raw cow milk) and MB (Pasteurized cow milk) respectively. There was no fungal growth in five of the samples except MA that had a fungal count that was TNTC. The highest TCC was obtained from sample MA, with a value of 2.96 x 106 CFU/mL while sample MD had the lowest count of one colony. The total microbial count from sample MA was extremely high and above the standard signifying that it is unfit for human consumption. The MBRT result revealed that MD (Processed liquid tin-milk) and MC (Processed liquid tin-milk) gave no methylene blue reduction (excellent quality) while MB (Pasteurized cow milk), ME (Processed liquid tin-milk) and MF (Processed liquid tin-milk) were of fair quality. However, MA gave a poor quality based on the MBR time of between 30 m to 2 h corroborating with the high value of its THBC which was above the standard. Milk being a vital protein source and an excellent medium for microbial growth should be thoroughly treated by sterilization in a bottle as the study revealed that the milk microbial load can be greatly reduced by pasteurization, with sterilization in bottle having a greater bactericidal effect than pasteurization.