Bacterial flora in mangroves of Andaman – Part-I : Isolation, identification and antibiogram studies

Abstract

Bacterial flora of mangrove litter fall and underneath sediments froIn South Andaman was investigated. Thirtyeight bacterial isolates were obtained from Rhizophora, Avicennia and Nypa species inhabited areas. The cultural, morphological and biochemical features revealed that most of the isolates belong to Bacillus spp (50%). In addition Aeromonas, Vibrio, Escherichia, Enterobacter, Corynaebacterium, Kurthia, Staphyllococcus, Micrococcus, and Listeria were also present. Most isolates were gram positive (76.3%), motile (87%) and fermentative bacteria ranged from 6.9% for dulcitol to 82.1% for dextrose. Thirty per cent isolates were pigment producer (either diffusible or cell associated). The bacterial isolates showed a minimum of 50% resistance against chloramphenicol and a maximum of 100% resistance against polymixin B.