ABSTRACT

The study was to isolate and characterize microorganisms involved in wood degradation. A total of six bacterial and four fungal isolates were found to be responsible for the deterioration of wood samples. These microorganisms were isolated using the pour plate technique. The bacteria species isolated and identified using morphological and biochemical characterization included; Bacillus species, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species, Streptococcus species and Serratia species, while the fungi species are Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Rhodotorula species and Mucor alternaria. Amongst the five (5) wood samples investigated for degradation by microorganisms, Fibreboard had the highest bacteria count at 8.7x105, while the least was recorded for Beach wood (1.3x105). The fungi count showed that Beach wood had the highest counts at 7.4 x107 while Veneer wood recorded the least fungi counts at 2.7 x107. It was also observed in this study that Serratia species is the most frequently occurring isolates with a high percentage occurrence of 5(27.7, while amongst the various woods accessed for its degradation potentials, Veneer wood had the highest number of bacteria species 5(27.7%. This suggests that Veneer wood can easily be degraded by microorganisms. Among the fungal isolates, Aspergillus flavus and Mucor alternaria 3(33.3) was the most predominant and frequently occurring isolates on the wood types. The extracellular enzymes activities for isolate in this study revealed that Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus spp and Streptococus species were found to exhibit the highest enzymes production. Conclusively, the major bacteria and fungi species generally associated with the deterioration of wood types as revealed in this study are Serratia species, Aspergillus flavus and Mucor alternaria. Therefore, man can depend on microorganisms in making the world a better place to live as a result of their degradation potential of recycling wood wastes thereby maintaining environmental quality