PHYSICOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF BACTERIA AT TWO LOCATIONS IN FUTO AND NEKEDE OTAMIRI RIVER IMO STATE
The study was conducted to determine metagenomic and physiocochemical analysis of bacteria at two locations in FUTO and Nekede in Otamiri River Imo State. In present study, water samples were collected from two different sites and coded FUTO and Nekede samples. Various physicochemical parameters were estimated by following the standard methods of APHA and the concentration of heavy metals were measured using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). In case of physicochemical parameters characterization, the obtained values indicated alteration in the physicochemical properties of the samples. The results revealed that the two study locations water samples contains heavy metal concentrations (Cadmium) below the desirable and admissible levels by the WHO. During analysis of culturable bacteria in the water, a substantial bacterial diversity was observed in the Nekede (976902.43 ± 2987.32) water samples than FUTO samples (873455.78 ± 3245.54). The water samples were subjected to metagenomic analysis which revealed that Proteobacteria (phylum), Betaproteobacteria (class), Burkholderiales (order), Comamonadaceae (family), Hydrogenophaga (genus) and Verrucomicrobiota (species) were found as the most dominant bacterial taxonomic abundance in the Nekede and FUTO Otamiri water samples. The presence of such bacterial communities in water indicates the availability of pollutants and suggests the futuristic use in the field of bioremediation.
Keywords: Physico-chemical, Heavy metals, Metagenomics, FUTO, Nekede, Imo State.
