Title: Prokaryotic diversity of a remote aviation fuel-polluted lentic ecosystem in Ibeno, Nigeria

Biography:

Ime R Udotong is a Professor of Environmental Microbiology. He has worked extensively on the microbiology of aquatic resources and pollution status of Qua Iboe and Imo Rivers estuaries, Nigeria. His doctoral thesis focused on environmental monitoring and effect of petroleum production effluent on some biota of the lower Qua Iboe River Estuary, Nigeria.

Abstract

Ibeno in Akwa Ibom State is the operational base of Mobil producing Nigeria unlimited (MPNU), a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil in the Niger Delta region, Nigeria and it remains one of the most impacted communities by oil and gas exploration and production activities. Natural bodies of water (lotic and lentic systems) in the region receive recent petroleum hydrocarbon inputs almost daily due to oil spills and oily wastes discharges. This research was carried out to determine the prokaryotic diversity in a remote aviation fuel-contaminated lentic ecosystem after 16 years of aviation fuel pollution using meta-genomics approaches. Water samples from the polluted and a control (unpolluted) sites were collected using sterile 1-litre plastic bottles and transported to laboratory in ice-packed cooler for analyses. ZR fungal/bacterial DNA MidiPrep™ (D6105) extraction kit was used to obtain community DNA of all microorganisms present in the water samples. Extracted DNA fragments were amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Quantification of the amplified product was confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis, sequenced and bioinformatics analyses of the sequenced fragments were carried out in the NCBI GenBank database using BLAST software. The analysis revealed the dominance of bacterial and archaeal communities in both the polluted and unpolluted water samples. The polluted sample had 93.83% bacteria followed by 3.43% archaea and 0.36% fungi; the control site sample revealed 58.05% bacteria, 39.69% fungi and 1.05% of archaea. Bacteria are the most dominant organisms in both the polluted and unpolluted ecosystem. These findings suggest that the conditions of the two water bodies are such that allow bacterial growth and proliferation otherwise archaea would dominate if the conditions were harsh or at extremes. Use of meta-genomics tools to determine prokaryotic diversity in a remote polluted site gives a realistic microbial ecological status than the use of culture-dependent methods and is thus recommended.