Journal of Experimental Agriculture International

Culture-dependent microbiological and enzyme properties of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soil were investigated in Choba, Port Harcourt- Nigeria. Standard biological science and physico-chemical procedures were adopted for all the analyses carried out. Conductivity and pH values of 177.30 µS/cm, and 5.95, respectively were observed in the polluted soil. Total Petroleum hydrocarbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus contents were 1127mg/kg, 6.52 mg/kg, 4.23 mg/kg, respectively. The effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) of the soil was 39.85 Kcal/mol, and the polluted Clay-Loamy soil had a redox potential of 78.70 mV. The polluted soil had a total culturable hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria and fungi counts of 8.33 x 10⁵cfu/g, and 8.9 X 10⁴ cfu/g, respectively. In the polluted soil, the activities of soil dehydrogenase, catalase, and urease were 0.088 µgINF/g/dwt/2h, 0.83 ml0 0.1 NKMnO₄, and 6,013 µgNH₄-N-dwt/2h, respectively. The hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria in the polluted soil were: Burkholderia pyrrocinia, Burkholderia ambifera chDc 3361, Burkholderia cenocepacia ZYB002, Pseudomonas fluorescens hsw X151, Burkholderia sp. NTUIOB TPD9, and Bacillus badius. The hydrocarbon utilizing fungi isolated from the polluted soil include: Talaromyces flavus, Talaromyces emersonii, Talaromyces wortomanii, Cladosporium carionii, Talaromyces flavus, and Trichoderma polysporum. The study showed that petroleum hydrocarbon pollution in the studied environment impacted on the physico-chemical and microbiological properties of the soil.