Bacteria Associated with Selected Rivers in Akure, Nigeria and their Alkysulphatase Activity/Production

Aims: To isolate, characterize and identify surfactant degrading bacteria from selected rivers in Akure, Nigeria and also to compare and quantify the biodegrading potentials of each of the bacterial isolates.

Place and Duration of Study: Akure metropolis, Ondo state, Nigeria, between June and November, 2013.

Methodology: Surfactant degrading bacteria were isolated from the water samples by supplementing culture media with test surfactant. The bacteria isolated were later subjected to the alkylsulphatase enzyme assay to quantify their various enzyme production/activity.

Results: The total bacterial load of the water samples range from 7.20±0.69 x103 cfu/ml to 40.0±2.31 x103 cfu/ml, while the surfactant degrading bacteria counts was within the range of 3.30±0.02 x102 cfu/ml to 5.37±2.3 x103cfu/ml. Pseudomonas putida and Exiguobacterium profundum were able to produce more of the alkylsulphatase enzyme amongst the isolated surfactant degrading bacteria.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that the set of bacteria isolated from the selected aquatic environments are capable of carrying out biodegradation of surfactants and that they are abundant in the selected environments. Pseudomonas putida and Exiguobacterium profundum have higher biodegrading potentials and they can be exploited in the bioremediation of water bodies polluted with surfactants.