Isolation of cellulolytic bacteria from termites gut

Termite gut contains numerous types of microorganisms. There are cellulolytic bacteria inside termite guts due to their dietary habit. Termites were collected from two different locations which are at Agropark UMK Jeli Campus, Kelantan and Kampung Setol, Kepala Bates, Penang. Termites were washed and dissected under sterile condition to take out the guts. Then, crushed guts were
transferred into selected broth for the enrichment of cellulolytic bacteria. Filter paper was provided in broth as a carbon source. Isolation of cellulolytic bacteria was done on selective media which is Congo-red agar. Four isolates were selected for further study based on their different morphological characteristics. Based on morphology characterization, two of the isolates have red color and the other two are white color. The selected isolates were fuither characterized with Gram staining. Several biochemicals were conducted on isolates such as catalase test, oxidase test and starch hydrolysis test.