Free living nitrogen fixing bacteria are those that lives freely on rhizosphere of a young growing plant or those living in a close association with root of plants (Rhizobacteria) but not symbiotically. In most tropical soil, Nitrogen and other essential nutrients element are the most limiting nutrients which deficiencies could lead to slow growth and reduced crop production. Free living nitrogen fixing bacteria has the potential of secreting nitrogenase enzymes and produces organic acids such as glycolic, acetic, malic, succunic acids which fix atmospheric nitrogen directly into the soil for plants growth and development. To this end, the study on isolation, identification and screening of Azotobacter chroococcum from soil of Keffi, Nasarawa State, Nigeria was carried out from May to September 2018. Soil samples were collected from eight different locations and Azotobacter strains were isolated and identified using standard microbiological methods. The 16SrRNA gene sequence analysis of the strain showed maximum similarity of 96% with Azotobacter chroococcum of the reference type strain deposited in RDP Gen Bank database. Azotobacter strains isolated from four different locations showed coloured zone ranging between 16-10mm. Similarly, Percentage amount of nitrogen released by each Azotobacter strain in the culture broth ranging between 1.19% -5.11% in an increasing order.

Aim: This study aimed to identify fungi isolated from Tympanotonus fuscatus var. radula and evaluate its level of susceptibility to known antifungal compounds. Place and Duration of Study: Biotechnology Advanced Research Centre, Sheda Science and Technology Complex, Abuja between September and December 2019. Methods: Tympanotonus fuscatus var. radula samples were purchased from the Keffi, Masaka, and Orange markets in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Fungal isolation was achieved using Sabouraud dextrose agar supplemented with chloramphenicol and incubated at 28ᵒC for 5 days. ITS-1 and ITS-4 primers were used at 94°C for 2 min, 52°C for 1 min, and 72°C for 2 min for the polymerase chain reaction before sequencing at Inqaba Biotech South Africa. Disk diffusion technique was employed for antifungal susceptibility testing. Results: Data obtained revealed that the suspected fungal species exhibited a generally higher level of resistance (19-40 mm) to 1 µg voriconazole in addition to a 20-35.5 mm zone of inhibition against 10 µg ketoconazole. Blast sequence analysis of the isolated samples revealed a 99.65% sequence homology to Meyerozyma guilliermondii, 99.38% to Fusarium oxysporium isolate E-225 1 and 96.23% to Aspergillus terreus isolate A2S4.   Conclusion: Food safety involves isolating and accurately identifying disease causing pathogens such as fungi in food. Based on the fungal load obtained from this study, proper cooking and handling of sea-food which would otherwise cause disease, is highly recommended.