CHARACTERIZATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF MICROORGANISMS INVOLVED IN WOOD DETERIORATION

ABSTRACT

The study evaluated the isolation and characterization of microorganisms involved in wood degradation. A total of six bacterial and four fungal isolates were found to be responsible for the deterioration of used and unused wood samples. These microorganisms were isolated using the streak plate technique. The bacteria species isolated and identified using morphological and biochemical characterization included; Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aurues, Klebsiella species, Serratia species, Citrobacter species, and Bacillus species, while the fungi species are Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumugatus, Mucor alternaria and Rhodotorula spp. Amongst the five (5) used wood samples, Ash wood (used) had the highest bacteria count at 7.6x1011while among the unused wood samples Beach wood (unused) was recorded to have the highest bacteria count at 7.3x1011 and Fibreboard (unused) having the least fungi count at 3.5 x1011. It was also observed that Escherichia coli is the most frequently occurring isolates with a high percentage occurrence of (20.0% and (22.2%) respectively, followed by Staphylococcus aureus (16.0%) and (16.6%). The occurrence of Escherichia coli is usually associated with faecal matter and also affirmed poor hygiene in the area. Among the fungal isolates, Aspergillus niger (8.3 %), (16.6%) was the most predominant and frequently occurring isolates on both wood types. The extracellular enzymes activities for isolate revealed that Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus spp and Citrobacter species were found to exhibit the highest enzymes production. Statistical analysis showed that there were significant differences in the bacterial mean count of the wood samples at P< 0.05, while no significant was recorded on fungal meant count of the wood samples.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page                                                                                                                                i

Certification                                                                                                                           iii

Dedication                                                                                                                              iv

Acknowledgement                                                                                                                  v

Table of Contents                                                                                                                   vi

List of Tables                                                                                                                          ix

Abstract                                                                                                                                  x

CHAPTER ONE

1.1       INTRODUCTION                                                                                                      1

1.2       Aim and Objectives                                                                                                    1

CHAPTER TWO

2.0       LITERATURE REVIEW                                                                                           2

2.1       Wood and its Component                                                                                           2

2.1.1    Cellulose                                                                                                                     2

2.1.2    Hemicellulose                                                                                                             3

2.1.3 Lignin                                                                                                                            3

2.2       TYPES OF WOOD                                                                                                    4

2.2.1    Beech Wood                                                                                                               4

2.2.2    Ash Wood                                                                                                                   5

2.2.3    Fibreboard                                                                                                                  5

2.2.4    Plywood                                                                                                                      5

2.2.3    Veneer                                                                                                                        5

2.3       CLASSIFICATION OF WOOD                                                                                6

2.3.1    Hardwoods                                                                                                                  6

2.3.1.1 Maple                                                                                                                          6

2.3.1.2 Mahogany                                                                                                                   7

2.3.1.3 Cherry                                                                                                                         7

2.3.1.4 Walnut                                                                                                                        8

2.3.2    Softwoods                                                                                                                   8

2.3.2.1 Pine                                                                                                                             8

2.3.2.2 Ash                                                                                                                              8

2.3.2.3 Birch                                                                                                                           9

2.3.2.3 Cedar                                                                                                                          9

2.3.2.4 Redwood                                                                                                                     9

2.3.2.4 Hemlock                                                                                                                     10

2.4       WHERE WOODS CAN BE FOUND IN NIGERIA                                                 10

2.4.1    The Makoko-Oko Baba Wood Market                                                                       10

2.4.2       The Umuahia Modern Timber Market                                                                    11

2.5       Degradation of Wood by Fungi                                                                                  11

2.5.1    White-rot Fungi                                                                                                          12

2.5.2    Brown-Rot Fungi                                                                                                        12

2.6       Microbial Colonization of Wood                                                                               13

2.7       Diversity of Bacterial Communities in Wood                                                            14

2.7.1    Edaphic and Atmospheric Sources of Bacteria                                                          15

2.7.2    Bacterial Endophytes                                                                                                  16

2.8       Bacterial Nitrogen Fixation in Wood                                                                         16

2.9       Bacterial Wood Decomposition                                                                                 18

2.10     Isolation and Characterization of Microorganisms Involved in

            Degradation of Wood Waste                                                                                      18

CHAPTER THREE

3.0       MATERIALS AND METHOD                                                                                  21

3.1       Study Area                                                                                                                  21

3.2       Collection of Samples                                                                                                21

3.3       Sterilization of Materials                                                                                            21

3.4       Preparation of Culture Media                                                                                     22

3.5       Isolation of Hydrolytic Microorganisms from Wood Chips                                      22

3.6       Screening of Hydrolytic Enzyme-Producing Microorganisms from Wood Chips    22

3.7       Identification of the Isolates                                                                                       23

3.8       Gram Staining                                                                                                            23

3.9       Biochemical Test                                                                                                        24

3.9.1    Catalase Test                                                                                                               24

3.9.2    Indole Test                                                                                                                  24

3.9.3    Citrate Utilization Test                                                                                               24

3.9.4    Hydrogen Sulphide (H₂S) Production Test                                                                24

3.9.5    Starch Hydrolysis                                                                                                       25

3.9.6    Motility, Indole, Urease (MIU)                                                                                  25

3.9.7    Coagulase Test                                                                                                           26

3.9.8    Oxidase Test                                                                                                               26

3.10     Identification of Fungal Isolates                                                                                 26

3.10.1  Wet Preparation                                                                                                          26

3.10.2  Colonial Morphology                                                                                                 26

3.11     Qualitative Screening for Extracellular Enzyme Producing Isolate by Plate Assay 26

3.11.1  Purification of Isolate                                                                                                 26

 3.11.2 Production of Xylanase Enzyme                                                                                28

3.11.3  Production of Amylases Enzyme                                                                               28

3.11.4  Production of Cellulases Enzyme                                                                               28

3.12     Statistical Analysis                                                                                                     28

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0       RESULTS                                                                                                                   29

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0       DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION                                    42

5.1       Discussion                                                                                                                   42

5.2       Conclusion                                                                                                                  44

5.3       Recommendation                                                                                                       45

              References

            Appendix I

            Appendix II

LIST OF TABLES

CHAPTER ONE

1.1       INTRODUCTION

Globally, fallen wood stores more than 73 billion tonnes of carbon (Pan et al., 2011) and provides habitat for a wide range of saproxylic (i.e. dead wood-inhabiting) organisms (Stokland et al., 2012). Understanding the rate, mechanisms and control of wood decomposition is of major ecological and economic importance, and the key to doing so lies in understanding the microbial communities that effect and regulate decomposition. Fungi are the dominant agents of wood decomposition, but it has long been known that bacteria also inhabit dead wood. There are indications of great bacterial diversity within wood (Hoppe et al., 2015), but bacteria are very poorly understood compared with fungi in the same environment. Wherever bacteria and fungi co-occur, they must interact with and influence each other, yet, although wood decay fungi are well known for being highly competitive, relatively little attention has been paid to the fungus– bacteria relationship (de Boer et al., 2005). Fungal–bacterial interactions have already been studied in other contexts for their importance in medicine, agriculture, and food and drink (Frey-Klett et al., 2011), but have been explored far less with respect to decomposition. The suite of bacteria that surrounds and interacts with a fungus effectively constitutes its microbiome, and as such, they must be considered together.

1.2       AIM AND OBJECTIVES

To characterize and identify microorganisms involved in wood degradation, while the specific objectives are;

·       To isolate and identify various microorganisms present in different wood samples

·       To determine the physico-chemical characteristics of different woods

·       To determine the factors that promotes the growth of microorganisms on the samples

Buyers has the right to create dispute within seven (7) days of purchase for 100% refund request when you experience issue with the file received. 

Dispute can only be created when you receive a corrupt file, a wrong file or irregularities in the table of contents and content of the file you received. 

ProjectShelve.com shall either provide the appropriate file within 48hrs or send refund excluding your bank transaction charges. Term and Conditions are applied.

Buyers are expected to confirm that the material you are paying for is available on our website ProjectShelve.com and you have selected the right material, you have also gone through the preliminary pages and it interests you before payment. DO NOT MAKE BANK PAYMENT IF YOUR TOPIC IS NOT ON THE WEBSITE.

In case of payment for a material not available on ProjectShelve.com, the management of ProjectShelve.com has the right to keep your money until you send a topic that is available on our website within 48 hours.

You cannot change topic after receiving material of the topic you ordered and paid for.