Molecular Characterization of Bacterial and Fungal Isolates of Tie and Dye Wastewater from Local Textile Mills at Itoku, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

Molecular techniques and phenotypic assessments were employed for identification and characterization of indigenous microbes in tie and dye textile wastewater. Genera isolated include Bacillus, Enterobacter, Escherichia, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Proteus, Saccharomyces, Penicillium and Aspergillus. Strains isolated have been kept in NCBI GenBank database under accession numbers OR485162, OR492431, OR492366, OR485290, OR492383, OR477460, OR485247, OR492410, OR485289, OR492362, OR485251, OR492370, OR492436, OR492467, OR492478, OR512432, OR492438 and OR492479. Bacterial counts, including textile wastewater-utilizing bacterial counts (TWUBC) and textile wastewater-utilizing fungal counts (TWUFC), were highest in brown-coloured effluent, with mean values of 5.66 ± 4.01 log10 CFU/ml and 1.48 ± 0.28 log10 CFU/ml, respectively. The lowest TWUBC in green-coloured effluent (1.27 ± 0.47 log10 CFU/ml), while the lowest TWUFC was in blue-coloured effluent (1.08 ± 0.51 log10 CFU/ml). Mann-Whitney U test indicated that TWUBC readings in brown-coloured effluent exhibited a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) when compared to other coloured effluents. So, no significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed in TWUFC among different effluent colours. Statistical test also showed that TWUBC significantly differed (p < 0.05) from TWUFC obtained from the textile wastewater. This research emphasizes the presence of a diverse array of bacteria and fungi in textile wastewater, revealing their potential for bioremediation applications.