DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY

Airborne bacteria from refuse dumpsites represent a significant environmental and public health concern, as these microorganisms can disperse widely, contaminate the surrounding air, and serve as potential reservoirs of pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant species. This study investigated the isolation and identification of airborne bacterial isolates from selected refuse dumpsites within the University of Benin, Ugbowo Campus, Benin City, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study design was employed, and air samples were collected from three major dumpsites—Hall 3, Hall 4, and the Faculty of Life Sciences, using the settle plate method. Results showed that the highest bacterial load recorded at the Hall 3 dumpsite in Week 2 (7.6 ± 0.42 × 10³ cfu/m³) and the lowest at the Faculty of Life Sciences in Week 1 (3.9 ± 0.22 × 10³ cfu/m³). Six bacterial species were identified: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus spp. Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp. Pseudomonas spp. and Proteus sp. Among these, Staphylococcus aureus had the highest frequency of occurrence (26.5%), while Pseudomonas spp. and Proteus sp. were the least frequent (10.3% each). The antibiotic susceptibility tests revealed that S. aureus and Proteus sp. exhibited the highest susceptibility (77.8%) and the lowest resistance (22.2%), whereas E. coli displayed the lowest susceptibility (33.3%) to tested antibiotics. Ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and gentamicin were the most effective antibiotics, while ampicillin and ampiclox showed the least efficacy.The Multiple Antibiotic Resistance (MAR) indices ranged from 0.44 to 0.89, with Klebsiella spp. exhibiting the highest MAR index (0.89), suggesting exposure to environments with high antibiotic selective pressure. The study underscores the need for improved waste management practices, regular sanitation, and environmental monitoring to minimize microbial air pollution and prevent the spread of resistant bacteria.

The discharge of untreated hospital wastewater poses a public health threat due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and residual pharmaceuticals. This study evaluated bacterial isolates from wastewater in four private hospitals in Benin City, Nigeria, for three consecutive weeks. Bacteriological analysis revealed total viable counts ranging from 1.6 × 10³ to 5.6 × 10³ CFU/mL, with the highest at Mount Gilead Hospital. Six bacterial species were identified: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp., Proteus sp., Enterococcus sp., and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. E. coli was the most frequent (27.3%), while Enterococcus sp. was the least (9.1%). Antibiotic testing showed significant resistance, especially to β-lactam antibiotics and cotrimoxazole. Fluoroquinolones and gentamicin were more effective. The Multiple Antibiotic Resistance indices ranged from 0.3 to 0.5, with Enterococcus sp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa showing the highest resistance. The findings highlight the potential of private hospital wastewater to spread antibiotic-resistant bacteria, emphasizing the need for improved wastewater treatment and stricter environmental regulations

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens has garnered considerable focus on the antibacterial attributes of natural compounds in recent years. This study aims to evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of Hibiscus sabdariffa calyx extract against several enteric bacteria, specifically Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecalis. A phytochemical analysis of the Hibiscus sabdariffa calyx extract was conducted to identify and quantify bioactive compounds that may contribute to its antibacterial properties.This analysis identified secondary metabolites, such as tannins, flavonoids, and alkaloids,recognised for their antimicrobial properties. These compounds likely contribute significantly to the antibacterial effects observed in the hibiscus sabdariffa calyx extract. Furthermore, the antibacterial efficacy was assessed utilising recognised microbiological methodologies, including minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC),against a selection of enteric bacterial isolates. The results demonstrated a significant antibacterial effect linked to Hibiscus sabdariffa calyx extracts. Their inhibition of bacterial growth was dose-dependent, with ethanolic extracts demonstrating significantly greater efficacy than aqueous extracts

Laurus nobilis, generally known as “bay leaf” belongs to Lauraceae family of plants. It contains compounds which have potential use for food safety because of the antimicrobial properties. Its leaves are widely used in traditional medicines and for food seasoning. This study was aimed at investigating the phytochemical constituents and antifungal effects of Laurus nobilis on selected pathogens; Fusarium solani, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, and Penicillium chrysogenum which were obtained from hair, foot, and toenail samples from some students in the department of microbiology, University of Benin (UNIBEN) using swab sticks and confirmatory tests were carried out using cultural and biochemical methods. The fungi isolates were identified using cultural and morphological characteristics as well as the colour of spores, types of spores, and nature of hyphae. The phytochemical screening of the leaf was done using standard methods. Antifungal susceptibility was done using poisoned food method. Extraction was done after 2 days and 4 days. The percentage composition of saponin, alkaloid, tannin, flavonoid and total polyphenol in the L. nobilis leaves were 4.40%, 4.00%, 13.50%, 11.00%, and 0.010% respectively. In the L. nobilis leaf extract for 2 days and 4 days, F. solani had the highest radial growth of 44.00mm and 31.50mm obtained from ethanol and methanol at 300mg/ml and 400mg/ml respectively. The highest percentage mycelial growth inhibition for 2 days and 4 days were 40.74% and 39.06% obtained from F. solani and P. chrysogenum respectively. The results showed great antifungal activities of the leaves extracts against the selected isolates. From the antifungal activity, it could be noted that L. nobilis extracts in general, offers some potential in the combating of diseases caused by these fungal agents, and may be screened for activity
against several other human and plant pathogens.

This research work evaluated the geospatial data need for the design of a good road profile using Global navigation satellite system as a tool that will serve the purpose of safety, capacity and aesthetics considerations Before getting the geospatial for the geometric design of the study area, thorough survey of the site was carried out using the dumping level to obtain the coordinate of the point along the study area, The GNSS was used to obtain the geospatial data of the study area, The design consideration includes: the composition of the traffic, the speed and the management of accessible road. Based on the use, the offset from both sides of the road is determined from the centerline point where the road will be placed. A road offset of 2.85 meters results from the carriageway width of 6.5 meters for the Police station road. A 1.75m-wide shoulder was made available to use as a parking lane, walkway, and covered drain. Ample care was made in the plot to prevent any road segments from crossing in the university of Aerial photography or remote sensing data obtained from space satellites that depict a graphical perspective of the land region are other significant design aids employed for this project. Geospatial data are designed to uniquely specify the positions of features on the earth's surface Geospatial data must be acquired in order to plan, construction, and manage the mad infrastructure, which is vital to humans use. These data come from a variety of sources, BNH including aerial photos, topographic maps, satellite images, and hand-drawn maps. For the collection, processing, and display of geographic data, optimal techniques are applied, which result in significant time and financial savings.

The research was carried out to evaluate the risk assessment and antibiotic resistant of E.coli and Salmonella spp in abattoir waste water in Benin city. Standard bacteriological methods were used to enumerate the total bacterial count (E.coli and Salmonella spp) of abattoir waste water using pour plate methods after serial dilution. The bacterial isolates were characterized and identified using morphological and biochemical methods and sugar fermentation test. The percentage distribution and frequency of the isolates were evaluated using statistical method. From the result the total Escherichia coli colony count in cfu/ml ranges from 0.7 x 103 – 0.8 x 103 (cfu/ml) while that of Salmonella spp ranges from 0.7 x 103 – 0.8 x 103 (cfu/ml). Following the cultural, morphological and biochemical characteristics of bacteria from abattoir waste water samples, the result revealed that Salmonella enterica, 2 Escherichia coli strains, Salmonella spp, and Salmonella typhi. The antibiotic sensitivity test revealed that all isolates found in this study were multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria. The multiple antibiotic resistant index of these isolates ranges from 0.5 to 0.525 as against the recommended 0.2 by WHO.

Enzymes are biological catalysts that regulate specific biologicak reactions. Pectinase is an essential industrial enzyme widely utilized in food processing, textile, and paper industries due to its ability to degrade pectin and enhance product quality. Microorganisms like Aspergillus spp have been used in the commercial production of this industrially important enzyme.This study aimed to investigate the production of pectinase using Aspergillus spp isolated from soil samples
under submerged fermentation conditions. Aspergillus species were isolated from a total of five (5) soil samples gotten from dump sites within the University of Benin and the village of Ekosodin, after all the samples were serially diluted and inoculated on Potato dextrose agar (PDA) using the pour plate technique. Pure cultures were obtained and the fungal isolates were identified based on cultural and morphological characteristics then screening was carried out, for selecting species that are capable of producing amylase on a commercial scale. The results were based on the mean counts of the fungi isolates which ranged from 13±1.00 ×10³cfu/g to 37±1.00 ×10³ cfu/g representing the lowest and highest mean counts obtained respectively, percentage frequency of the fungi isolates showing the various fungi isolated which include Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus tarmari, Mucor, Penicillium Chrysogenum, Penicillium spp and Fusarium of which Aspergillus niger has the highest percentage of occurrence(35), morphological description, optical density of which 0.09±0.0005 and 0.314±0.005 represents the lowest and highest values respectively.In conclusion, the results from this study shows that Aspergillus species were predominant in the soil and can be readily isolated and applied industrially in the production of the enzyme pectinase

The control of infectious diseases is badly endangered by the rise in the number of micro organisms that are resistant to antimicrobial agents. This is because infections caused by resistant microorganisms often fail to respond to conventional treatment, resulting in prolonged illness and greater risk of death. The antibiotics susceptibility pattern of clinical isolates obtained from University of Benin Teaching Hospital was determined by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. The bacteria isolates obtained were S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. hominis, E. coli andK. pneumonia. All test isolates were susceptible to Levofloxacin and Chloramphenicol. Corynebacterium jeikeium showed resistance to Streptomycin and Amoxicillin, K. pneumonia showed resistance to Norfloxacin. All S. epidermidis, showed no resistance to any of the antibiotics tested likewise E. coli and S. aureus. The multiple antibiotics resistance index of bacteria isolates revealed Corynebacterium jeikeium had an index of 0.2 which is the limit, K. pneumonia had an index of 0.1 and other were zero indicating these isolates do not pose threat to public health as they are not multidrug resistant and as such, plasmid curing was not carried out on these bacteria isolates.

The control of infectious diseases is badly endangered by the rise in the number of microorganisms that are resistant to antimicrobial agents. This is because infections caused by resistant microorganisms often fail to respond to conventional treatment, resulting in prolonged illness and a greater risk of death. The antibiotics susceptibility pattern of clinical isolates obtained from University of Benin Teaching Hospital was determined by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. The bacteria isolates obtained were S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. hominis, E. coli andK. pneumonia. All test isolates were susceptible to Levofloxacin and Chloramphenicol. Corynebacterium jeikeium showed resistance to Streptomycin and Amoxicillin, K. pneumoniashowed resistance to Norfloxacin. All S. epidermidis showed no resistance to any of the antibiotics tested, E. coli and S. aureus likewise. The multiple antibiotics resistance index of bacterial isolates revealed Corynebacterium jeikeium had an index of 0.2, which is the limit, K. pneumonia had an index of 0.1 and the others were zero, indicating these isolates do not pose a threat to public health as they are not multidrug resistant and as such, plasmid curing was not carried out on these bacterial isolates

Ethnomedicine or traditional systems of medicines have suggested means to increase the body’s natural resistance to microbial infections. A number of medicinal plants have been reported to possess antimicrobial activities. This study aimed at determining phytochemical constituents, proximate composition, and the antibacterial activity of aqueous extract of Costus afer (Monkey Sugarcane) on clinical isolates such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The plant samples were collected from a farmyard in Ughelli, Delta State. Samples were air dried for ethanol and aqueous extraction, using standard method. The antibacterial activities of the ethanol and aqueous extract of Escherichia coli,Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, were determined by the disc diffusion method. The result of this study revealed the presence of phytochemical constituents including; flavonoids (2.69 ± 1.53), saponins (4.86 ± 0.23), alkaloids (1.93 ± 0.11), tannins (88.96 ± 5.77) and phenols (59.70 ± 3.29). Proximate analysis revealed the moisture content 22.4%, ash content was 11.2%, crude fibre content was 3.9%, crude protein content was 8.0%, crude fat content was 0.7%, while carbohydrate content accounted for 53.8% of its total composition. The study investigated the determination of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC), and the identification of bacterial isolates, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The antibacterial activity of aqueous extract of Costus afer on clinical isolates such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed that the organism was not sensitive to the aqueous extract. The bacterial isolates showed greater resistance to commercially available antibiotics against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the susceptibility test. Antioxidant assays such as the DPPH radical scavenging activity, Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP), and Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) were conducted to assess the extract’s free radical scavenging ability.