Military Shooting Range Xenobiotic Bacteria Consortia in Situ Biodegradation, Kachia, Kaduna, Nigeria

24.95 square kilometers Nigerian military shooting range established in 1965 was studied (June-August 2015 and February-March 2016) for in situ bacteria consortia impacts on xenobiotic biodegradation using polymerase chain reaction amplification of 16srRNA gene. The optical density reading of biodegrading activity of each bacterial isolate on explosives broth with 1% exposure mineral salt medium (MSM) was evaluated. Mixed bacterial consortia (MBC) observed high bioremediation potential (68.62%) compared to single isolate in decreasing order were Bacillus subtilis, 55.1%; Enterobacter spp, 54.80%; Escherichia coli, 54.1%; Arcobacter spp, 43% Klebsiella pneumonia 42.7%, Lysini bacillus 37.8% and Achromobacter spp, 31.5% respectively attributed to the synergistic effect between the catabolic enzymes in the eight bacteria isolates. Anova test for total explosive contents shows a significant difference for all locations in both dry and wet Seasons (P<0.05) according to the Duncan multiple range test. All bacteria isolate reduced heavy metals better than the control in decreasing order were Bacillus subtilis>Enterobacter spp>Escherichia coli>Arcobacter spp>Klebsiella pneumonia >Lysinibacillus >Achromobacter spp. MBC observed high bioremediation potential (68.62%) compared to single isolate. MBC has the highest and prominent percentages reduction on heavy metal pollutants as a consequence of microbial ecology, bacterial strains having plasmid linked degradation or chromosomal genes, reduction ability, substrate specificity influenced microbial remediation of the explosives xenobiotic. Habitat filtering principle and resource ratio theory explains microbial completion and genetic information of more than one organism is necessary to degrade the complex mixtures pollutants as expressed in the MBC biodegradability (Figure 1).

Keywords: Shooting range; 16srRNA; Polymerase chain reaction; Bioremediation; Xenobiotic; Bacterial consortia; Microbial competition; Explosives; Enzymes; Heavy metals; Biodegradation.