Bioremediation of oil-polluted soil by Lentinus subnudus, a Nigerian white-rot fungus

Inspite of the realization and studies on the use of microorganisms in degrading hydrocarbons there has been very little work on indigenous white-rot fungi in Nigeria, a leading oil – producing country. the ability of Lentinus subnudus to mineralize soil contaminated with various concentrations of crude oil was tested. Organic matter and carbon were higher than the control at all concentrations of crude oil contamination in soils inoculated with L. subnudus for 3 months. Nutrient contents were generally higher after 6 months of incubations except potassium levels which were not significantly different from the control. As for the total petroleum hydrocarbon (tph) in crude – oil contaminated soils; the highest rate of biodegradation was at 20% concentration after 3 months and 40% after 6 months of incubation.Key words: bioremediation, crude oil, total petroleum hydrocarbon oil-polluted soil, Lentinus subnudusAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 4 (8), pp. 796-79

Original Article - ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF TWO NIGERIAN EDIBLE MACRO-FUNGILYCOPERDON PUSILUM (Bat. Ex) AND LYCOPERDON GIGANTEUM (Pers.)

Two edible Nigerian macro-fungi – Lycoperdon pusilum and Lycoperdon giganteum were assayed in-vitro for their antimicrobial activities using water, methanol and ethanol as extractive solvents. Generally, the extracts were selectively active on few clinical pathogenic microorganisms. Ethanol was the best extractive solvent followed in order by methanol and water (P < 0.05). The best inhibitory zone (24.0mm) was recorded in ethanol extract of L. giganteum with inhibitory zone of 21.0mm. The least inhibitory zone, (4.0mm) was recorded with the aqueous extract of L. pusilum against Proteus vulgaris. The best antifungal activity (17.0mm), was recorded in L. giganteum extract against Microsporum boulardii. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for the ethanolic extract was between 0.75 and 4.0mg/ml for bacteria, and between 9.00 and 13.75mg/ml for fungi. The extracts were found to be stable at temperatures up to 50 °C. As the temperature was increased from 60 to 100 °C, there was a significant decrease in stability of the extract. The implications of these observations are discussed