MICROBIOLOGICAL SURVEY AND DISSEMINATION OF FILAMENTOUS FUNGI OF PUBLIC HEALTH SIGNIFICANCE FROM WATER RESERVOIR (STORAGE TANK) IN CROWN ESTATE, IGBINEDION UNIVERSITY, OKADA, NIGERIA

Results of this investigation revealed that several species of filamentous fungi are present in the reservoir waters. Samples were collected from the surface and walls of the inner storage tank. The isolation process was done by a range of techniques and media, monitored by trained taxonomist to achieve broad arrays of water-borne fungi classified to species level. The direct plate enrichment counts and filtration technique recorded the highest number of counts (59 % and 32 %) respectively. The sabauraud dextrose Agar (SDA) was observed as the medium that recorded the highest colonies (60 cfu/100 ml) for incubation period of 5 d at 30 oC. Six different fungal taxa were recovered from the three examined sites (ST1, ST2 and ST3) and the ST3 was reported to have the highest number of isolated species. However, certain fungi were observed to be more distributed than others, specifically in species of Aspergillus and Penicillium which tended to be the most common. Although, species of other genera such as Acremonium sp., Rhizopus stolonifer, Mucor racemosus and Trichophyton sp. were also present but in low counts. The significance of fungi in water systems is lowly expressed as many of the species isolated from water sources are confirmed to possess the potentiality of secreting toxic secondary metabolites like patulin, produced by P. espansum causing immune-suppression in hosts, A.flavus secrets aflatoxins that can be carcinogenic, A. versicolour releases the musty odours in homes, while some moulds are concerned in food deterioration.