Isolation
and characterisation of microorganisms from petroleum contaminated soil was carried out on the soil samples collected from seven different spots at the NNPC Depot in
Mosimi, Ogun State, Nigeria. The highest bacterial count
of 2.6X10⁶cfu/g was recorded at Tank 1 which was at the North-Eastern part of the Tank Farm
while the least bacterial count of 5.0X10⁵ cfu/g
was recorded at Tank 3, about 30 metres away from Tank1. The fungal count ranged from 1.3 X 10⁵
cfu/g to 1.7 X 10⁵ cfu/g. The bacterial count ranged from 6.4 X 10⁵
to 2.6 X 10⁶. Bacillus subtilis
had the highest occurrence (76.2%) among the bacterial isolate while Aspergillus
niger had the highest occurrence among the fungal isolates.Using biochemical and morphorlogical
characteristics
that are based on established standards, the bacterial isolates
were identified as Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella
pnuemoniae and
Proteus vulgaris. The fungi isolated were Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus oryzaeand Penicillium chrysogenum. Aspergillus niger showed highest count and fastest growth pattern
among all the isolated fungi. Using biochemical and morphorlogical characteristics that are based on established standards, the bacterial isolates were identified asBacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella
pnuemoniae and
Proteus vulgaris. The fungi isolated were Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus oryzaeand Penicillium chrysogenum. Aspergillus nigers howed highest count and fastest growth pattern
among all the isolated fungi.This investigation provides information that could
be useful in designing bioremediation protocols for environments polluted with
petroleum products.