Abstract

J. A. Lennox1*, C. Abriba , Bello N. Alabi and F. C. Akubueny

Microorganisms isolated from sawdust have been demonstrated to be effective in its degradation. Eight bacteria and eight fungi were isolated from wet decaying sawdust. These were tested for their capability to degrade sawdust. Among the bacteria, C ellulomonas sp. was found to be the most effective degrading agent based on its high percentage degradation (18.3%). This was followed by Micrococcus sp. (16.0%) and Pseudomonas sp. (14.6%), Cytophaga sp. and Bacillus sp. had the lowest percentage degradation of 0.2 and 7.7%, respectively. The fungi, Penicillium sp. had the highest percentage degradation of 14.3%, followed by Mucor sp. (13.3%) and Trichoderma sp. (9.5%). Asp. ergillus sp. and Absidia sp. had the lowest percentage degradation of 4.3 and 6.5%, respectively. This report shows that indigenous microorganisms possess the capacity to degrade sawdust.