Advances in Environmental Soil Microbiology Approaches in Nigeria (a Review)

Over the years, environmental soil microbiology has undergone major changes in methodology and approaches which have witnessed considerable progress all over the world especially in the area of agriculture. Approaches including the biochemical and ecological aspects have been developed significantly and contributed vital information on the activities of microbes in the soil. Research in population numbers of specific organisms especially bacteria and fungi was superseded by a focus on biochemical processes which include soil enzyme activities. The advent of molecular approaches has effectuated new insights through the analysis of soil extract DNA which has shown an unexpected diversity for formerly unknown genomes in soil. This paper highlights the current methods and advances in environmental soil microbiology approaches in Nigeria using the existing researches used in peer reviewed publications from search engines and questionnaire responses from researchers. It was observed that despite the fact that the ‘omics’ approach is highly beneficial and encompassing in environmental soil microbiology researches, some Nigerian researchers are yet to fully embrace the approach.