FASHOLA OMOTOLA MUIBAT

Microbiology

At the Microbiology department office

Appointment on Visitation important

Topic: Bioremoval Of Pollutants

Description: I am an Environmental Microbiologist and focus on bioremoval of pollutants from the environment. My research area includes bioremediation, microbial biotechnology, biodiversity of soil and plant-microbes interaction. My research involves assessment of microbes for their remediation potentials that can be harnessed in restoration of environments perturbed with organic and inorganic pollutants. Environmental pollution and food insecurity is fast becoming a global menace influencing every nook and corner of the earth. All types of life forms are in one way or the other affected by the impact of pollution and there is need to find suitable remediation approaches to this menace. Bioremediation has been recognized to be the best way to neutralize polluted environments. My research seeks to discern the various ways bacteria interact with pollutants in the environment, using culture dependent and independent approaches to assess the bioremediation potentials of the microorganisms. I am particularly fascinated by the metagenomic approach because it gives more insight into the microbial diversities present in various polluted sites including the underrepresented populations, functional genes as well as the metabolic pathways of the microbes that can be explored in bioremoval of pollutants in the environment. My current research attempts to determine the relationship between heavy metals and antibiotics resistance in various environmental compartments. My studies so far have been able to confirm the suitability of microbes in reducing bioavailability of organic and inorganic pollutants in the environment as well as predicting suitable bioremediation strategies for their removal. I have also been able to show the co-occurence of heavy metals and antibiotic resistance traits in bacteria isolated from soil and animal wastes.

#	Certificate	School	Year
1.	Ph.D (Microbiology)	North West University, Mafikeng, South Africa	2017

Bacterial-assisted phytoextraction of heavy metal from polluted soil

Introduction: Heavy metal contamination in soils is a critical environmental concern due to the toxicity and persistence of metals.Aims/Objectives: This study investigates the potential of bacterial-assisted phytoextraction for the removal of heavy metal from metal-contaminated soil collected from Iba, Lagos State. Methodology: Laportea aestuans, a non-edible weed, was used as the test plant, while two bacterial isolates; Bacillus cereus strain TPLC and Proteus mirabilis strain BY, tolerant to multiple heavy metals, were introduced to enhance metal uptake. The experiment involved six treatments combining control and contaminated soils with or without bacterial inoculation. Soil samples were analyzed for physicochemical properties, showing pH differences between sample A acidic and sample B alkaline , with significantly higher heavy metal concentrations in sample B. Plant growth parameters, such as stem height, leaf length, and number of leaves, were measured weekly for five weeks. After 35 days, cadmium accumulation in plants and residual concentrations in soil were determined to assess the efficiency of bacterial-assisted phytoextraction.Expected results: The results showed that Laportea aestuans exhibited better growth in control soil Sample A compared to contaminated soil Sample B , where high metal toxicity stunted plant development. Transfer factor TF and extraction rate % calculations revealed a moderate TF of 0.14 and an extraction rate of 996% for Sample A treated with Proteus mirabilis strain BY, while Sample B with Bacillus cereus strain TPLC recorded an exceptional extraction rate of 17,650%, despite a lack of TF values.Contribution to Knowledge: These findings highlight the potential of Bacillus cereus strain TPLC and Proteus mirabilis strain BY to enhance the phytoextraction process, particularly in heavily contaminated soils

FASHOLA MUIBAT is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Microbiology

FASHOLA has a Ph.D in Microbiology from North West University, Mafikeng, South Africa