〈Original Papers〉天王寺動物園における飼育動物の糞を材料とした有用微生物探索の試み

本研究では有用微生物の探索を目的とし、様々な動物を飼育している動物園に着目した。天王寺動物園において生態や食性が異なる4種の飼育動物、アジアゾウ、キタジマキーウィ、コアラ、コウベモグラの糞を採取、スクリーニングを試みたところ、それぞれの動物の糞サンプルからマンガンを還元する微生物、炭酸固定・窒素固定を行う微生物、植物生長促進を行う微生物、植物病原菌に対して抑制能を示す放線菌、難分解性の多糖を分解する微生物の存在が認められた。このことから飼育動物の糞は有用微生物の単離源として有効であることを示した。The aim of this study is the isolation of beneficial microorganisms from the animal feces. Since the zoo is keeping a variety of animal species, the fecal samples were collected at the zoo from the following four animals which have different ecological feateures: Asian elephant(Elephas maximus), North Island brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli), koala(Phascolarctos cinereus) and Japanese western mole (Mogera wogura). Isolation of beneficial microorganisms from the animal feces and activity tests have been performed by using agar media. As a result, all animal feces have shown the presence of beneficial microorganisms such as manganese reducing microorganisms, carbon-fixing microorganisms, nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, plant growth promoting microorganisms, actinomycetes that have antifungal activity against plant pathogenic fungi, and persistent polysaccharide degrading microorganisms. This study revealed that feces of captive animals have usefulness for screening of beneficial microorganisms