South Asian Journal of Research in Microbiology

Water as excellent natural resource is meant to be of good quality to prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases. The physical, chemical and biological qualities of water constitute groundwater quality. Water of poor physicochemical quality may have adverse effects on human health and the economy. The physicochemical evaluation of fifteen borehole waters in mile 50 Abakaliki was carried out during the rainy and dry seasons to determine their suitability for drinking using standard analytical methods. During the rainy season, the temperature was 28-30°C; pH, 6.63-8.51; dissolved solids, 1.04-17.01 mg/l; total suspended solids, 0.09-0.98 mg/l; total solids, 1.14-17.99 mg/l; electrical conductivity, 107-328 us/cm; turbidity, 1.27NTU-2.60 NTU total alkalinity, 27.68-82.23 mg/l; total hardness, 70.20-150.84 mg/l; total chloride, 67.30-124.14 mg/l; calcium hardness, 24.50-53.58 mg/l; magnesium hardness, 39.40-97.26 mg/l; sulphate, 30.03-61.88 mg/l; phosphate, 0.25-6.71 mg/l; potassium, 0.00-8.04 mg/l; nitrate, 1.16-8.03 mg/l; iron, 0.00-0.26 mg/l; lead, 0.00-0.05 mg/l; cadmium, 0.00-0.04 mg/l; copper, 0.00-0.23mg/l; chromium, 0.00-0.05 mg/l and zinc, 0.07-2.15 mg/l. During the dry season the temperature was 27-29°C; pH, 6.40-7.75; electrical conductivity, 24-149 us/cm; dissolved solids, 0.10-2.03 mg/l; total suspended solids, 0.02-0.29 mg/l; total solids, 0.13-2.64 mg/l; turbidity, 0.61NTU-1.90 total alkalinity, 19.96-55.97 mg/l; total hardness, 49.61-82.35 mg/l; total chloride, 26.31-80.72 mg/l; calcium hardness, 5.63-29.30 mg/l; magnesium hardness, 30.54-67.30 mg/l; sulphate, 13.88-39.18 mg/l; phosphate, 0.07-3.18 mg/l; potassium, 0.00-4.73 mg/l; nitrate, 0.44-4.95 mg/l; iron, 0.00-0.16 mg/l; lead, 0.00-0.02 mg/l; cadmium, 0.00-0.02 mg/l ; copper, 0.00-0.15 mg/l; chromium, 0.00-0.03 mg/l and zinc, 0.02-0.64 mg/l during the dry season. From the average 7% of cadmium and 33% of lead in the water samples were above the NIS required limits of 0.003 and 0.01mg/l respectively. Generally, the water from the borehole was of poor physicochemical quality and must be treated adequately before being used by humans.

Background: Urinary tract infection is caused by the presence and replication of microorganisms in the urinary tract. Urinary tract infection is a major health problem among females especially among pregnant women and this is caused by the physiological makeup of the female urinary tract.

Objective: This study was designed to assess the epidemiology of UTIs present amidst pregnant women and females residing in the Omu-Aran community.

Materials and Methods: A total of 100 individuals were involved of which 50 were pregnant women while the remaining 50 were non-pregnant females. Semi-structured questionnaires were distributed to all participants to obtain their data. Samples of urine (early morning midstream) were collected in universal bottles from participants. The urine specimens were cultured on four different agar plates which were; cystein lactose electrolyte deficient agar, blood agar, MacConkey agar and nutrient agar for significant bacteria growth. Microscopic and macroscopic examination was also carried out on the samples for possible detection of infections.

Results: The result of the culture showed a significant bacterial growth of 77% and 23% of the samples collected showed no significant bacterial growth. Bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus spp., Proteus species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans were isolated. With Staphylococcus aureus predominantly present and observed as the causative factor for (45.4%) occurrence of UTIs, closely followed by Staphylococcus saprophyticus (13.0%), Escherichia coli (13.0%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (9.1%) Proteus species (9.1%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (7.8%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1.3%). However the only fungi isolated was Candida albicans showing (1.3%) prevalence, Candida is the most common cause of fungal infections in humans.

Conclusion: Results obtained in this work showed a high prevalence of Urinary tract infection at our study location. A prompt enlightenment campaign and need for periodic check among females is highly advocated to reduce or out rightly eliminate the spread of common uropathogens in circulation.

The study was carried out to investigate the effect of fermentation on Irish potato peels using pure strains of Penicillium chrysogenum and Bacillus subtilis. This was done at Department of Microbiology and Chemistry Department, Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State between March 2019 and October 2019. The temperature, pH, and total titratable acidity (TTA) of the fermenting substrates were determined at 24hours interval during fermentation. The proximate composition, anti-nutrient composition, and amylase activity were determined after fermentation using standard methods. There was a decrease in pH with an increase in total titratable acidity in all the samples. The result of the proximate analysis revealed that there was an increase in protein content in the fermented sample of Irish potato peels with P. chrysogenum having the highest protein content (20.96±0.14%) followed by the sample fermented with B. subtilis (18.23±0.17%) compared to the unfermented samples (14.11±0.11%) respectively. There was an increase in crude fibre and ash contents and a decrease in carbohydrate, fat and energy contents of the fermented samples. The effect of fermentation on the anti-nutritional content showed that there was decrease in the content of phytates, phytic acid, oxalate, tannin, phenols, and glycosides. Generally, maximum amylase activity was achieved at 48 hours for sample fermented with B. subtilis (132.86 mg/ml) and at 72 hours for sample fermented with P. chrysogenum (148.57 mg/ml). The fermented peels could therefore be of use in the production of amylase which has a wide range of applications in industry.

Aim: An indigenous Bacillus thuringiensis strain G5-8-3T02 earlier isolated from healthy shrimp intestine and established to safeguard Penaeus monodon from Vibrio mimicus infection was assessed as a potential candidate bacterium for drug enhancement for shrimp culture systems.

Methodology: Optimal temperature, pH and salinity for growth and antibacterial activity of Bacillus thuringiensis against Vibrio mimicus were determined. The effects of enzymes (pepsin, catalase, lipase and α- amylase), pH (2-9), heat (37°C – 121°C) and surfactants (Sodium dodecyl sulphate and Tween 80) on antibacterial activity were also evaluated. Cell growth and antibacterial activity were monitored daily for 5 days via spectrophotometric method at 600 nm and agar well diffusion assay respectively. The metabolite extracted with methanol was analyzed for bioactive compounds using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).

Results: The optimum temperature, pH and salinity for growth and metabolite production were 35°C, pH 6-7 and 10-15 ppt. respectively. The crude extract did not totally lose its activity when treated with enzymes, various pH values, heat and surfactants. The quantitative composition of the metabolite revealed 15 bioactive compounds. The main compound produced was 2, 6, 10-Trimethyltridecane with peak area of 14.58%.

Conclusion: The non-pathogenic, antagonistic, indigenous Bacillus thuringiensis strain G5-8-3T02 could be engaged in the management of vibriosis in shrimp culture since the use of antibiotics in aquaculture for disease control yields objectionable effects. The identified bioactive compounds might be valuable for drug development for shrimp culture system.

Reduced susceptibility of antibiotics against Enterobacterial strains have emerged as an important public health problem worldwide. Infections caused by Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia can affect severely ill patients, and their colonization of human gut, endangers population at large in communities, and in hospitals. This research is aimed at determining the susceptibility pattern of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia from stool of patients in two tertiary hospitals in Rivers State, Nigeria. A total of 114 stool samples were collected from patients. Stool samples were collected in sterile biological specimen bottles and were sent to the laboratory immediately after collection. Stool samples were inoculated by streaking on Eosin methylene blue and MacConkey agar plates. Isolates were characterized using standard microbiological methods and were stored and used for further tests. The result showed that nineteen isolates of E. coli were 100% resistant to Cefuroxime and Augmentin, while 78.9%, 68.4% and 42.1% were resistant to cefixime, Ceftazidime and Nitrofurantoin, respectively. The result for the susceptibility pattern of the Klebsiella isolates showed 100% resistance to cefuroxime and Augmentin. Resistance to ceftazidime, cefixime and nitrofurantoin were observed to be 70%, 60% and 45%, respectively. Isolates of E. coli and Klebsiella were highly susceptible to Meropenem and ofloxacin. The isolates of E. coli and Klebsiella showed multi-drug resistance to the different antibiotics. Although the meropenem, ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin antibiotics showed high level of sensitivity to these isolates, there were still some level of resistance recorded.