ABSTRACT
The release of spent oil from tricycles by mechanics is a major source of soil pollution in the studied community. This present study investigates the ability of fungi and bacteria to degrade hydrocarbons from spent oil contaminated soil samples in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.From the ten (10) soil samples collected, the percentage of hydrocarbondegrading bacteria and fungi present in the soil was 55.8% and 34.8% respectively indicating a higher population of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria than fungi in the soil.A total of twenty-one (21) isolates (14 bacteria isolates and 7 fungi isolates) were obtained and these isolates belong to theBacillus, Arthrobacter, Pseudomonas, Provindencia, Eriwinia, Acinetobacter, Escherichia, Klebsiella, Agromyces,Penicillium, Aspergillus,RhizopusandFusarium genera.Allisolates showed potential for biodegradation of spent oil and of these isolates, four of them (two bacteria and two fungi) identified as Eriwinia sp., Arthrobacter sp.,Fusarium sp. and Penicillium sp.,which exhibited the highest potential to degrade hydrocarbons in spent oil,were selected for further studyto determine the level of tricycle spent oil degradation by fungi and bacteria as well as their consortia.This study reveals that Eriwinia sp., Penicillium sp. and the combination of bacteria and fungi consortium are effective in bioremediation of soil contaminated with tricycle spent oil.
