Identification of the Bacterial Community Responsible for Decontaminating Eleme Petrochemical Industrial Effluent Using 16s RDNA PCR Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis

Identification of bacteria community responsible for decontaminating Eleme petrochemical industrial effluent using 16S PCR denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was determined. Gene profiles were determined by extracting DNA from bacterial isolates and amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using 16S rDNA eubacterial primers with a GC clamp. PCR amplified DNA was separated by Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis. Comparative evaluation of primers for PCR amplification of DNA revealed that V6V8F and V6V8R primers were most suitable for amplification DNA. Denaturing gradient gel ratio of 20% : 80% was most suitable for differentiation of bacterial profiles. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of DGGE products were successful displaying 88% -100% similarity and homology to Roseococcus sp. LW5(FM956480.1). Dendograms and similarity matrix revealed 81.5% -100% from sampling points.http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v33i4.

Investigation on oil absorption and microstructural properties of polyethylene composites reinforced with post-agricultural waste fillers

Conventional plastic made from polyethylene (PE) is not able to absorb excess oil from the fried food due to its nature to resist water and oil. As a result, oil inside fried food plastic packaging will be accumulated and will affect the freshness and shelf life of the product. To address this issue, polyethylene incorporated post-agricultural waste filler which is rice husk (RH) and rice husk ash (RHA) is produced. Five levels of filler loading which are 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 in weight percent were incorporated into the PE to produce RH-PE and RHA-PE composites. Tests were performed to evaluate the oil absorption and microstructural properties of the composites. The results showed that the addition of fillers at any loading percentages resulted in significant improvement on the oil absorption of the composites as compared to control sample which is PE. The RH-PE and RHA-PE composites with 25% of fillers were found to possess the best oil absorption property as compared to other compositions. An increase in the loading of fillers would lead to some large agglomeration, high amount of spaces between rice husk and polyethylene and subsequently allow more oil to be absorbed into the composite. It proved that R RH-PE and RHA-PE composites with optimum composition have a great potential to be a good oil absorbent material