Characterization of the microbial community in the gut of Centrocestus formosanus

Abstract

The antibiotic resistance pattern of bacteria associated with the gut of Centrocestus formosanus, an aggressive woodâ€eating termite was investigated. The bacterial isolates encountered were Serratia marcescens, Acetobacter posterianus, Flavobacterium rigense, Xanthomonas spp, Citrobacter freundii, Erwinia cacticida, Aeromonas salmonicida, Enterobacter cloacae, Bacillus mengaterium, Cellulomonas biozota and Lactobacillus fermentii. Among the Gram negative bacterial isolates, resistance to Ceftezidine, and Ampicilin was 100% respectively, while resistance to Ciprofloxacin was 12.5%. However, the Gram positive bacterial isolates showed 100% resistance to Cotrimoxazole, Augmentin, Streptomycin and Chloramphenicol respectively. The least resistance was towards Gentamicin (33.3%). All the bacterial isolates exhibited lipase and protease activity; while 63.6% and 72.7% showed cellulolytic and amylolytic activities respectively.