1 Project Nilgiri Tahr, Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
2 Department of Microbial Bio-Technology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2024, 24(01), 600-608
Article DOI: 10.30574/wjarr.2024.24.1.3006
Received on 19 August 2024; revised on 28 September 2024; accepted on 01 October 2024
The Nilgiri Tahr are the high-altitude dwelling mountain ungulates, endemic to the Southern Western Ghats of India. These endangered, hoofed mammals inhabit the unique shola grassland biome. These herbivores feed on a diversity of plants including grasses, herbs, shrubs etc. They play an important ecological role in the maintenance of montane grassland ecosystems. Grazing by Nilgiri Tahrs in the montane grasslands supports the hydrology of these areas. In the present study, four novel gut bacterial species were isolated from the fecal pellets of Nilgiri Tahr. The four isolated strains from the gut of Nilgiri Tahr were characterized through an integrated approach involving morphology, physiology, and phylogeny. Molecular characterization was conducted using universal bacterial primers, followed by sequencing. Homology analysis of the sequences confirmed that the isolates were Bacillus safensis, B. aerius, B. subtilis and B. australimaris. These four Bacillus isolates are of viable importance in maintaining the gut health of Nilgiri Tahr and improves digestion in ruminants. The present study prompts that more intense research could be done on B. safensis to augment its use as biofertilizer , whereas B. aerius, B. subtilis and B. australimaris could have a great potential for enzyme production and bioprospecting studies. However, in depth research is needed and this current research is only a basic study for characterization of gut microbial isolates of Nilgiri Tahr.
Nilgiri Tahr; Gut microflora; 16S rRNA sequencing; Phylogeny; Bacillus
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Priyanka Srinivasan, Ganesan Manikka Govinda, Ganeshram Karuppusamy, Angayarkanni Jayaraman, Murugesan Gnanadesigan, Sasireka Manikandan and Nivetha Shanmuganathan. Physiological and molecular characterization of novel gut strains isolated from the fecal pellets of Nilgiritragus hylocrius. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2024, 24(1), 600-608. Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2024.24.1.3006