Isolation and bioprospecting of actinomycetes isolated from Ayer Keroh Recreational Park, Malaysia

A total of 80 isolates of actinomycetes were isolated from soil samples collected at Ayer Keroh Recreational Park. All isolates were tested for their ability for enzymes secretion of cellulase, mannanase, xylanase, lipase and protease. A total of 70 actinomycetes isolates showed positive reaction for the production of lipase followed by 69 isolates for cellulase, 68 for protease, 65 for xylanase and 22 for mannanase. All the 80 isolates were later tested for their antimicrobial reaction towards Ralstonia solanacearum, a bacterial wilt causing agent of tomato plants. From this pre-screening, 12 isolates showed inhibition zone formation ranging from 8-20 mm indicating positive result. All the 12 were identified as Streptomyces spp. using primers targeting their 16S rRNA sequence.