Screening and Identification of Bacteria and Fungus Present In Cow Dung

Abstract

Cow dung (CD) or cow manure is the waste product of bovine animal, cow dung is traditionally used as organic fertilizer in Indian sub-continental farming for centuries. Composition of cow dung is about 80% of water and has some part of undigested plants material that have high amount of organic substance, due to secretion of antimicrobial metabolites of cow dung microflora. Manure of cow dung enhances the minerals of soil and also develops resistance power of plants against pests and plant diseases. The cow dung(CD) microflora used in agricultural domain such as biocontrol, growth promotion, organic fertilizer, phosphorus solubilisation. CD has been used for several other applications concerning environmental such as biodegradation, bioremediation, and biosorption of heavy metals etc. CD harbors a rich microbial diversity containing almost 60 species of bacteria (Bacillus sp., Lactobacillus spp., Corynebacterium spp.), fungi (Aspergillus, Trichoderma), 100 species of protozoa and yeasts (Saccharomyces and Candida).

In the present investigation we studied the microbial load of cow dung. Bacteria were isolated from cow dung by using nutrient agar, blood agar and MacConkey agar. Sabouraud Dextrose agar (SDA) used for fungal isolation. The isolated bacteria were identified on the basis of their colony characteristics, morphology, Gram’s staining, microscopy and biochemical test. Microbial load of cow dung was calculating by cfu/gm of samples. The maximum number of bacterial population was exhibited in dilution 10^-3 which ranged from 170×10^-4cfu/ml. A total of 20 isolate including Gram Negative bacilli, Gram Positive cocci, and Gram Positive bacilli Escherichia coli, Microccocus sp. and Bacillus sp respectively were isolated from cow dung. Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) used for fungal isolation. The maximum number of fungal population was exhibited in dilution 10^-2 which ranged 35×10^-3 cfu/ml different fungus colonies of Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus fumigates was observed. These beneficial microbes will be used for further research work.