National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
Some glycosidic enzymes secreted by the gut of Eudrilus eugeniae and the abundance of bacteria producing similar enzymes in the gut were studied in order to know the extent of enzymatic contribution by the worm gut and the ingested bacteria. 120 different bacteria were isolated from the worm gut and their enzymatic activities were detected by using respective media and reagents. In vitro gut wall tissue culture of various gut portions was done to assess enzymatic activities in gut wall and in the culture medium. The total viable counts of bacteria decreased in the crop / gizzard portion and increased gradually in the posterior region (midgut + hindgut) of the gut by about two thousand times more than those in the anterior gut. In vitro tissue culture of gut wall showed that E. eugeniae produced different extracellular as well as intracellular enzymes for degradation of the substrates used. However, for certain glycosidic substrates viz. starch and chitin, enzyme activities by the worm itself were relatively low while the abundance of corresponding glycolytic bacterial group was more indicating probable role of the gut bacterial flora in substrate degradation upon selective proliferation of specific bacterial group in the gut of the earthworm. The results indicate that the degradation of certain substrates like starch and chitin might be enhanced by the ingested bacterial flora present in the feed material particularly in the foregut region of the earthworm gut.
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