Abstract

Indigenous bacteria in the soil environment can produce a wide range of solvents and metabolites more efficiently. This study was carried out to screen Clostridium species isolated from the soil environment within Jos metropolis for solvent production. A total of 30 samples were collected from farmlands, nursery gardens, floral gardens and waste disposal sites. The pH, temperature and moisture content at various locations was determined. The mean temperature of the soil ranges from 19.00 °C to 22.4°C, mean percentage moisture content of the soil samples ranged from 9.88 to 13.22 and the mean pH ranged from 6.23 to 7.37. The soil samples were enriched in Reinforced Clostridial Medium (RCM) in an anaerobic medium and isolation of Clostridia was carried out in Reinforced Clostridial Medium (RCM) agar using pour plate technique. Fifty-eight (58) isolates were isolated and identified on the basis of morphological characteristics. Ten (10) isolates were suspected as Clostridium species and subjected to further biochemical tests. The solvents produced by the isolated bacteria during fermentation was detected using a standard qualitative test for alcohols. The biochemical and physiological test were used to identify the Clostridium species by ABIS (Advanced Bacterial Identification Software) online laboratory tool. It was confirmed that two species namely Clostridium acetobutylicum and Clostridium auranbutyricum are non pathogenic. The pathogenic Clostridium species isolated were Clostridium colinum, Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium botulinum and Clostridium difficile. Clostridium botulinum had the highest frequency of occurrence. The waste disposal site and nursery gardens had the highest occurrence of Clostridium species, while farmlands and floral gardens had the least. The ten (10) isolates produced alcohol during fermentation.