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Oil palm plantations are the most invasive land use changes in Southeast Asia. It must have affected unique natural biodiversity. This study aimed to investigate the diversity of soil bacteria based on 16S rRNA gene profiles from tropical forest and oil palm plantation in Jambi Province, Indonesia. Soil sample was taken from tropical forest and oil palm plantation from Jambi province, Indonesia. The forest site is in Bukit Duabelas National Park, and the nearby oil palm plantation is in Sarolangun District, Jambi Province, Indonesia. The diversity of bacterial communities from topsoil was studied using Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA gene and common biodiversity indices. PCR amplification of 16S rRNA gene was successfully conducted primers-using 33F/518R primers. Phylogenetic approach was used for revealing the community shift of bacterial phyla and genera in both areas. Phylogenetic analysis showed there were 4 phyla of bacteria i.e., Firmicutes, Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Actinobacteria, respectively. Actinobacteria was the most dominant group in both areas. The composition of soil bacterial community in the oil palm plantation, based on total number of bands 16S rRNA generated from DGGE was richer than that in the Bukit Dua Belas National Park. It was probably caused by plantation year circle more than 10 years and routine activities during the plantation management, such as applications of agricultural lime, herbicide and fertilizer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a social insect, termite colony consists of three castes, i.e. reproductive, soldier, and worker castes. In their role of cellulose digestion, the worker termites use two sources of cellulolytic enzyme that include cellulases produced by the termite and the gut symbions. Macrotermes gilvus classified in mound builder termite, mostly depend on cellulolytic bacteria for cellulose digestion. This study aims to characterize cellulolytic bacteria of termite gut symbionts of worker M. gilvus and to identify the cellulolytic bacteria based on sequences of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene. Cellulolytic bacteria of termite gut were isolated and cultured in CMC (Carboxymethyl cellulose) media. The biochemical characters of bacterial isolates were assayed using Microbact 12A and 12B. Cellulolytic activity was determined based on formation of clear zone and cellulolytic index on CMC plate media. The bacterial isolate that has the highest cellulolytic index was analyzed for its 16S rRNA gene sequences. Four isolates of cellulolytic bacteria were successfully isolated from gut of M. gilvus with aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The highest formation of cellulolytic index (2.5) was revealed by RA2. BLAST-N (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool for Nucleotides) result of 16S rRNA gene sequences of RU4 and RA2 isolates showed that the isolate has similarity with Bacillus megaterium and Paracoccus yeei, respectively. This result indicated that RA2 isolate was P. yeei, a cellulolytic bacterium of a termite gut of M. gilvus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]