Isolation of actinomycetes from termites’ guts

Abstract

Actinomycetes could be isolated efficiently on a defatted wood powder medium from the guts of various species of termites. The actinomycete flora in the termites' guts depended largely on the area in which the termites naturally occur. In termites from the same area, the actinomycete flora changed depending on the taxonomic difference between termite species. Some actinomycetes isolated from termites' guts grew satisfactorily on lignin-related media, and the others grew on cellulose-related media. © 2003 by Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry.