Mmuoegbulam Augusta O

University of Calabar, Nigeria



Biography

Mmuoegbulam Augusta O is a Lecturer in the Department of Microbiology, University of Calabar, Nigeria. She did her PhD in Molecular Biology research
internship in CPQBA, University of Campinas, Brazil under TETFund sponsorship. Her masters and PhD specializations were Medical Microbiology and
Pathogenic Microbiology/Public Health respectively. Her research interests include pathogenic microbiology, public health, molecular biology, bacteriology,
antibiotic resistance, infectious diseases, virology, immunology, genomics and cancer therapy.

Abstract

Crude oil exploration has led to the presence of pollutants in the marine environment. Among the biota
presumably affected by environmental pollution are the microorganisms. It is speculated that oil pollution
of the marine environment would create a preponderance of pathogenic and antibiotic resistant survivors which
would constitute an enormous public health problem. Such pathogens that could be affected in the event are
enterotoxigenic enterobacteria, which abound in Nigerian coastal waters and estuaries. Enterobacteria from Iko
River in Nigeria were evaluated for enterotoxigenicity and phylogenetically classified using the 16S rRNA sequencing
protocol. The sequence data generated from the PCR amplification and cycle sequencing reaction were matched
with available sequences in the ribosomal data project (RDP). Isolates 12A, 13 and EC6 were identified as Klebsiella
variicola F2R9T (AJ783916), isolate 11A as Enterobacter ludwigii EN-119T (AJ853891), and isolate 10 as Enterobacter
asburiae JCM6051 (AB004744)/cancerogenus LMG 2693T (Z96078). Based on the ligated ileal loop assay, all the
isolates were found to be enterotoxigenic with some histopathological effects. The plasmid profile of the isolates
was also determined using the Promega protocols; and, with the exception of isolate 13, all the isolates harboured
plasmids. Antibiogram showed that the isolates were susceptible to Gentamycin, Ciprofloxacin and Clavulin;
however, minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) determination showed that Gentamycin and Ciprofloxacin
were more effective than Clavulin. Evaluation of the relationship between crude oil exposure to presence of plasmid,
antibiogram and enterotoxigenicity indicates that exposure to crude oil does not ameliorate or exacerbate antibiotic
resistance, enterotoxigenicity and plasmid acquisition.