Isolation and identification of microorganisms from soil in a young oil palm plantation

Microorganisms in soil could be beneficial to the ecosystem or pathogenic to crop plants. Their distribution depends on the environmental habitat favoring each species. This study was intended to isolate and identify the types of microorganisms in soil habitat of a young oil palm plantation, and associate them to their role as being beneficial or pathogenic to the ecosystem. The isolation process was done by soil sampling and soil dilution technique. The bacterial population were identified through BIOLOG, whereas the fungal and actinomycetes were identified through conventional methods of microscopic observations of the isolates. Five of the isolates were bacterial species, identified as Malikia spinosa, Bacillus humi, Bacillus cereus/thuringiensis, Bacillus pseudomycoides and Bacillus sp. Other isolates were three fungi and two actinomycetes of Mucor sp., Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus sp., and Streptomyces spp. isolate B1 and C2, respectively. None of the isolated species were reported to be pathogenic on oil palm, but Aspergillus sp. could be pathogenic to other crop plants. Bacillus cereus/thuringiensis is commonly used commercially as biological control agent mainly for Lepidopterous insects. Key words: Soil bacteria, soil fungi, soil actinomycete, oil palm soil