Heavy Metal Contents Of Manihot Esculenta Crantz Seedlings Grown on Crude Oil Contaminated Soil Amended With Bacteria Consortium Of Pseudomonas Sp And Bacillus Sp

The heavy metal contents of Manihot esculenta seedlings grown in crude oil contaminated soil were investigated at the Botanical garden of the Department Plant Science and Biotechnology, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The treatments comprised of 0.00 % crude oil +cassava; 0.00 % crude oil + cassava + consortium; 10.00 % crude oil (w/w) + cassava, and 10.00 %crude oil (w/w) + Cassava + consortium. The crude oil was applied to the soil 12 days before the stems of Manihot esculenta were planted. The cassava stems in the treatments with the bacterial consortium was inoculated by dipping into the bacterial solution for one minute before they were planted. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with five replicates. The results showed that crude oil contamination of soil had significant (P<0.05) effects of increasing the contents of heavy metal (including Aluminium, Iron, Copper, and Zinc) of the test plant when compared with values obtained for plants from the uncontaminated soil. It was also observed that the bacterial consortium significantly (P<0.05) enhanced the uptake of the heavy metals when compared with values obtained for seedlings from the non-inoculated stems. This study has shown that crude oil contamination of soil can lead to a gradual build up of heavy metals which when absorbed are capable of making the cassava shoots and roots potentially toxic and harmful if consumed as food by man and his animals.