Molecular Studies of Bacterial Isolates of Some Benthic Seafood Harvested from Oil Producing Areas in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

The benthic region of the sea consists of a wide variety of organisms including the seafood (molluscs and crustaceans), which serve as a rich source of nutrients for man and other organisms. Oil exploration and exploitation activities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has resulted in environmental, socioeconomic and physical damage of the ecosystem over. Bacteria were isolated from selected benthic seafood harvested from oil producing areas in the Niger Delta using standard methods. The molecular identification of the isolates were carried out using the BigDye Terminator kit and the bioinformatics algorithm Trace Edit. Similar sequences from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database were matched using Basic Local Alignment Search Tool Nucleotide (BLASTN). Sequences were aligned using MAFFT and the evolutionary history inferred using the Neighbour-Joining method. The extracted DNA samples all had acceptable range of DNA concentration and DNA purity. All the twelve organisms isolated and identified were associated with contaminated water and seafood. Identified bacteria include Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Myroides odorantimimus, Bacillus flexus, Bacillus velezensis, Shewanella chilikensis, Enterobacter hormaechei, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia fergusonii, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Some of the isolates had been reported to be pathogenic and food spoilage. Environmentally friendly practices in oil production will ensure a healthy aquatic environment in the Niger Delta.