Isolation, identification, and characterization of gut microflora of Perionyx excavatus collected from Midnapore, West Bengal.

Agriculture is an important part of the economy of the undivided Midnapore district. Agricultural land is its asset and most importantly its means of sustenance as well as survival. Earthworms are invertebrates that play a key role in recycling organic matters in soils. Since the intestines of earthworms harbor wide ranges of microorganisms, enzymes, hormones etc., these half digested materials decompose rapidly and are transformed into a stabilized material called vermicompost which is very useful for increasing the soil fertility. One has to look for these characters before recommending any species for vermiculture. In the present study, Perionyx excavatus specimens were collected from the undivided Midnapore district and from the Earthworms gut, bacteria, fungus, actinobacteria, and yeast were isolated and identified using various morphological and biochemical tests. All the bacterial isolates were identified using morphological study, staining techniques, and different biochemical tests such as catalase test, KOH test, H₂SO₄ test, Starch hydrolysis test, oxidase test, and sucrose hydrolysis test. All the fungal, actinobacteria, and yeast isolates were subjected to staining and morphological characterization (color and texture of fungal colony). Bacterial isolates of genus Bacillus sp., Staphylococcus sp., Enterococci, Micrococcus sp., Enterobacter sp., and Citrobacter sp. were identified. Among the fungal isolates Aspergilus sp., and P. boydii were identified. Streptomyces sp., Nocardia sp. among the actinobacteria and Candida sp. among yeast were also found to be present in earthworm gut and these might play an important role along with the earthworm to increase the quality and fertility of soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]