Assessment of Physicochemical Properties and Identification of Microbes Associated with Goronyo Waste Land Area in Sokoto State

Abstract

Waste land is an unused area of land that has become barren, uncultivated or having overgrown bushes. Waste land can serve as reservoir of bacteria and fungi that might have potential in petroleum prospecting. It can also habours microbes that can be used in hydrocarbon, heavy metals, pesticides and microplastic bioremediationan as well as remediation many more environmental pollutants. This research was aimed to determine the physicochemical properties and to isolate and identify bacteria and fungi associated with Goronyo waste land area in Sokoto State. Soil samples were gathered from the top layer (0-10cm depth) in some selected waste lands of Goronyo Local Government areas of Sokoto. The soil samples collected soil were subjected to comprehensive examination to evaluate various physical factors such as color, temperature, and physicochemical analysies that include pH, organic matter content, as well as the concentrations of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium, Bacterual and fungal enumerations and identification were conducted using Nutrient and Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA). The mean results of pH and Electrical Conductivity (EC) within the waste lands of Goronyo local government area were recurdrd near-neutral pH (6.80 ± 0.03), while Taloka has the most acidic soil (5.3 ± 0.1). Kiraki has a moderately acidic pH (6.12 ± 0.02) and the highest electrical conductivity (566.00 ± 318.47 µs/cm), indicating moderate salinity. Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) and Nutrient Availability Goronyo Town has the highest CEC (3.68 ± 0.92 cmol/kg), followed by Kiraki (value not provided) and Taloka with the lowest (2.0 ± 0.2 cmol/kg). The bacterial load in Goronyo varied significantly across the three sites as can see in the Table 2. Site A3 exhibited the highest colony-forming unit (CFU) count, with a mean of 83.2×10³ and a standard error (SE) of ±31.87, indicating both a substantial bacterial presence and some variability in the measurements. The data highlights significant differences in bacterial colonization among the sites, with Site A3 being the most populated by bacteria. The data in the Table 3 provides the mean number of colony-forming units (CFU) of fungi isolates from different sites in Goronyo, along with their respective standard errors (SE). Site A1 shows a mean fungal count of 1.5 × 10³ CFU with a standard error of ±1.41, indicating a moderate fungal presence. Site A2 exhibits the highest mean fungal count of 1.9 × 10³ CFU. Overall, the fungal populations are relatively similar across the sites, with Site A2 having the highest mean count but also the most variation. The biochemical characterization of bacterial isolates from the waste lands of Goronyo Local Government in Table 4 which reveals a diverse range of bacteria, including both Gram-positive and Gram-negative species. The data in Table 5 presents the frequency of occurrence and the corresponding percentage of bacterial isolates identified in Goronyo Local Government waste lands samples. The most frequent isolate is Bacillus cereus, with a total of 4 occurrences, accounting for 26.66% of the total isolates. Other bacterial isolates are less frequent, with Bacillus arthracis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Morganella morganii, Bacillus subtilis, each occurring once, representing 6.66% of the total frequency for each. Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus licheniformis each occur twice, making up 13.33% of the total isolates. The fungi idenfied from Goronyo waste lands area include Aspergillus niger, Penicillium spp., Alternaria spp., Fusarium spp., and Aspergillus flavus.  This study revealed that the waste lands in Goronyo area of Sokoto state has been an ecological niche that is supporting different bacterial and fungal species.