Background.Discharged effluents from industry have been responsible for the deterioration of the aquatic environment in many parts of the world, especially in developing countries. Increasing industrialization and urbanization have resulted in the discharge of large amounts of waste into the environment, resulting in high pollution loads. Utilization of microbes such as fungi and bacteria have been used for pollution degradation.Objectives.The aim of this research was to utilize microbial agents such as fungi and bacteria to reduce pollutant loads such as heavy metals in effluent samples.Methods.Three types of effluent (pharmaceutical, textile effluent, and dye) were obtained from Surulere in Lagos Metropolitan Area, Nigeria. Heavy metals analysis was carried out using a flame atomic adsorption spectrophotometer according to standard methods. Samples were cultured for microbes and identified. Bacteria samples were inoculated on nutrient agar and incubated at 37°C for 24 hours. Fungi counts were carried out using potato dextrose agar and incubated at 28°C for 3–5 days. The isolated organisms were identified based on their morphological and biochemical characteristics. Then 100 mL of the effluents was dispensed into 250 mL flasks, and the pH of the medium was adjusted to 7.2 by the addition of either sodium hydroxide or hydrogen chloride and autoclaved at 121°C for 15 minutes. The autoclaved flask was inoculated with 1 mL of bacteria and fungi for 21 days and pH was recorded properly every 48 hours.Results.The results of the physicochemical parameters indicated that conductivity, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, turbidity, chemical oxygen demand and biochemical oxygen demand for all the three industrial effluents were higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible limits. Heavy metal analysis results show that the effluents had high values for cadmium, above the WHO limit of 0.003 mg/L. Concentrations of zinc ranged from 0.136–1.690 mg/L, and nickel ranged between 0.004–0.037mg/L for the three effluents, within the WHO limit. The identified bacteria were Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumonia, Salmonella typhi and Bacillus cereus and isolated fungi were Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium chrysogenum. All the physicochemical parameters and heavy metal concentrations were reduced after the biodegradation study in the effluents.Conclusions.The responses observed in the various microbes indicated that the use of microbes for the reduction of environmental pollutants has an advantage over the use of other methods because it is environmentally friendly, low cost, and no new chemicals are introduced into the environment. This method should be encouraged for pollution reduction to bring about ecosystem sustainability advocated for Ghana.

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The deployment of molecular biology techniques for diagnosis and research in Nigeria is faced with a number of challenges, including the cost of equipment and reagents coupled with the dearth of personnel skilled in the procedures and handling of equipment. Short molecular biology training workshops were conducted at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), to improve the knowledge and skills of laboratory personnel and academics in health, research, and educational facilities. Five-day molecular biology workshops were conducted annually between 2011 and 2014, with participants drawn from health, research facilities, and the academia. The courses consisted of theoretical and practical sessions. The impact of the workshops on knowledge and skill acquisition was evaluated by pre- and post-tests which consisted of 25 multiple choice and other questions. Sixty-five participants took part in the workshops. The mean knowledge of molecular biology as evaluated by the pre- and post-test assessments were 8.4 (95% CI 7.6-9.1) and 13.0 (95 CI 11.9-14.1), respectively. The mean post-test score was significantly greater than the mean pre-test score (p < 0.0001). The five-day molecular biology workshop significantly increased the knowledge and skills of participants in molecular biology techniques. © 2017 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 45(4):313-317, 2017.

Natural products have contributed immensely to the development of anti‐tumour agents in which genotoxic and cytotoxic activities are consistent with these agents. Hence, this study is aimed at evaluating the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of hit fractions from the leaves of Catharanthus roseus, Amaranthus viridis, Piper guineense, Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides, Costus afer, and Annona muricata. Neutral red (NR) cytotoxicity assay was carried out to determine the IC50 values of each hit fraction using HeLa Cell lines. Alkaline comet assay was used to assess both double‐ and single‐stranded DNA breaks and detect alkali‐labile sites, which are expressed as strand breaks in DNA. Apoptosis was evaluated using DNA Fragmentation assay. Results shows that tannin and ethylacetate fractions of A. viridis, A. muricata (tannin fraction), C. roseus chloroform fractions had LC50 values< 100 μg/ml. Significant (P<0.05) percentage DNA comet tail was observed with C. roseus (chloroform), Piper guineense (hexane), and A. muricata (tannin fraction). Apoptotic DNA fragmentation was also observed in Piper guineense (hexane), A. viridis (ethylacetate), Z. zanthoxyloides (ethylacetete) and A. muricata (tannin fraction).In conclusion, this study provides experimental evidence that supports the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of Piper guineense (hexane), A. viridis (ethylacetate), Z. zanthoxyloides (ethylacetete) and A. muricata (tannin) fractions as potentials for anti‐tumour drug development sources.Support or Funding InformationSelf FundedThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

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