DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15413/ajsr.2012.0107
ISSN: 2315-7712
2013 Academia Publishing
Research Paper
Microbial analysis of different top soil samples of selected sites in Gilgit, GilgitBaltistan, Pakistan
Accepted 5th January, 2013
ABSTRACT
The research was carried out from November 2010 to April, 2011, during which
soil samples of three selected sites that is Gilgit city (GLTC), Jutial (JTL) and
Danyor (DNR) were analyzed. Five samples were taken from each site from a
depth of 1.3 cm with the help of sterilized spatulas in sterilized jam jars and
analyzed within four hour in laboratory.15 bacteria and 7 fungi were isolated
throughout the selected sites. Mean total bacterial count (TBC) was 13.8x105
cfu/g of soil, 8.5x105cfu/g of soil and 19.4x105cfu/g of soil for DNR, GLTC and JTL
respectively and Escherichia coli was the most dominant bacteria across the
different sampling locations. Mean total fungal count (TFC) was1.7x105 cfu/g of
soil, 2x105 cfu/g of soil and 7x104 cfu/g of soil for DNR, GLTC and JTL respectively
dominated by Rhizopus oryzae. Although some isolates were common to all
sampling location but many were exclusive to these specific locations, this was
due to different agricultural practices like different types of fertilizers and water
of different quality used for irrigation.
Key words: Top soil, bacteria, fungi.
INTRODUCTION
Soil is the surface on the earths crust where geology and
biology meet and the land surface that provides a home to
plant, animal and microbial life (Pelczar et al., 1993). Soil
offers various types of habitats like aerobic, anaerobic and
mini aquatic (Prescott et al., 2005), that is why soil
sustains an immense diversity of microbes (Anderson and
Cairney, 2004), it is estimated that one gram of soil contains
bacteria 3.0 x 106 5.0 x 108, actinomycetes 1.0 x 106 2.0 x
107, fungi 5.0 x 103 9.0 x 106, yeast (I.0 x 103 1.0 x 106),
algae and protozoa 1.0 x 103- 5.0 x 105, nematodes 50
200 counts per gram of soil (Ogunmonye et al., 2008).
Despite this large diversity most of the microorganisms
have remained unexplored, moreover our understanding
about soil fungi is poor as compared to bacteria (Anderson
and Cairney, 2004), due to limitation of culture-based
techniques to study them (Cheryl et al., 1997). It is
007
Table 1. Bacterial isolates and their distribution among the three selected sites.
Bacteria
Aeromonas salmonicida
Citrobacter rodentium
Escherichia coli
Moraxella boevrei
Moraxella catarrhalis
Moraxella lacunata
Neisseria canis
Neisseria elongat glycolytica
Neisseria lactamica
Neisseria polysaccharea
Providencia stutzeri
Pseudomonas flavescens
Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes
Staphylococcus aureus
Yersinia mollaretii
DNR
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
Occurrence
GLTC
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
JTL
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
DNR, Danyor; GLTC, Gilgit city; JTL, Jutial; - = absent and + = present.
Sample collection
Three sites selected for the analysis were Gilgit City (GLTC),
Jutial (JTL) and Danyore (DNR). Five samples were taken
from each site; for the collection of each sample 5 x 5m
quadrate was selected (Ogunmonye et al., 2008). Surface
soil of 1.30 cm was removed so as to ease the removal of
plant and any coarse material (Al-Yemeni and Hashem,
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
008
19
13.8
8.5
DNR
GLTC
JTL
Sampling locations
Figure 1. Average total bacterial count of Sampling locations.
DNR, Danyor; GLTC, Gilgit city; JTL, Jutial.
Table 2. Fungal isolates and their distribution among the three selected sites.
Fungi
Alterneria
Aspergillur niger
Aspergillus flavus
Fusavium spp
Microsprum spp
Rhizopus oryzae
Sclerotium spp
DNR
+
+
+
+
Occurrence
GLTC
+
+
+
+
JTL
+
+
+
+
DNR
2
1
3
1
Mean Total
GLTC
2
1
3
2
JTL
0.3
0.9
1
DNR, Danyor; GLTC, Gilgit city; JTL, Jutial; - = absent and + = present.
Seven fungi were isolated across the three sites (Table 2),
mean total fungal count (TFC) was 1.7x105 cfu/g of soil,
2x105 cfu/g of soil and 7x104 cfu/g of soil for DNR, GLTC
and JTL respectively (Figure 2), while number of species
isolated were 4, 4 and 3 for DNR, GLTC and JTL
respectively. TFC was highest in GTLC and lowest in JTL.
TFC for Rhizopus oryzae was highest as 3x105 and lowest
for Microsprum spp as 9x104.
DISCUSSION
Conclusion
009
2.5
2
1.5
1
1.7
0.5
0.7
0
DNR
GLTC
JTL
Sampling Locations
Figure 2. Average total fungal count of sampling locations.
DNR, Danyor; GLTC Gilgit city; JTL, Jutial.