OGBE ADEOLA ABDULAZEEZ

Botany

At the Botany department office

Appointment on Visitation important

Topic: Plant Physiology And Phytochemistry

Description:

My research interests are broadly focused on enhancing plant (medicinal and crop) growth using microbial and non-microbial biostimulants under stressful conditions.  

I am equally interested in plant secondary metabolism, viz., the pharmacological properties of plants and their microbial symbionts, endophytes.

#	Certificate	School	Year
1.	Ph.D (Botany)	University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa	2022

Serratia marcescens., AN ENDOPHYTIC BACTERIA OF Ficus microcarpa L. WITH PLANT GROWTH-PROMOTING POTENTIAL

Endophytic microbes are non-pathogenic microorganisms that colonise the internal parts of plants, helping to enhance plants’ growth. They are relatively untapped resources with large potential applications for crop production. They promote plant growth and enhance their resistance to environmental stressors by producing organic acids, phytohormones, siderophores, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia for their host plants. However, the endophytic community of plants is influenced by multiple factors, including host genetics, environmental conditions, and other microbes. Thus, it is important to characterise well-adapted endophytes from indigenous species. This study aimed to isolate, characterise, and investigate the plant growth-promoting potential of bacterial endophytes from microcarpa. Healthy, disease-free leaves were collected, surface-sterilised, and then incubated on nutrient agar for 5 days. Two distinct endophytic bacterial isolates, designated Ficus bacteria isolate 1 (FB1) and Ficus bacteria isolate 2 (FB2), were obtained and evaluated for their plant growth-promoting traits, including ammonia production, hydrogen cyanide production, and phosphate solubilisation. FB1 demonstrated higher ammonia production and phosphate solubilising ability, while FB2 showed more pronounced hydrogen cyanide activity. One of these strains FB1, with the most promising plant growth-promoting properties, was identified as Serratia marcescens (CP026050.1). Based on the 16S rRNA sequence result, S. marcescens shared high homology (96.79%) with other related species. The findings highlight S. marcescens as a potential plant growth-promoting bacterium, suggesting its use as a biostimulant to improve agricultural productivity. Further studies are recommended to validate its plant growth-promoting properties in diverse plant systems.

OGBE ABDULAZEEZ is a Lecturer II at the Department of Botany

OGBE has a Ph.D in Botany from University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa