DISTRIBUTION OF SOIL ACTINOMYCETES IN NORTH-EAST CHINA
H. RUNMAO, M. LIANJUN and W. GUIZHEN
Sichuan Industrial Institute of Antibiotics, Sichuan, Chengdu,
China
Code Number: AC94003
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ABSTRACT. Soil samples were collected in 34 localities from
agricultural and non-agricultural sites in 5 provinces of
North-East China. Actinomycete strains were isolated by the
capillary tube technique method. A total of 4520 actinomycetes were
isolated representing a wide range of genera.
In the search for novel antibiotics and other useful secondary
metabolites from soil actinomycetes, 34 samples were collected from
5 provinces of North-East China. Here we describe the distribution
of soil actinomycetes which were isolated by the capillary tube
technique.
MATERIALS and METHODS
Thirty-four soil samples were collected from agricultural and
non-agricultural sites in North-East China. All samples were dried
for at least 7dd at room temperature, grinded with a pestle and
mortar and the sieved through a mesh (1-2mm size).
Isolations were obtained using a modified capillary tube technique
and the humic acid - vitamins medium (HV) of Nonomura and Hayakawa
(1988). 1 g of each soil sample was suspended in each tube with 3ml
sterile tap water. A capillary tube (approximately 1mm in diameter
by 100mm in length), filled with 0.01N KCl or 0.2% yeast extract
solution, was introduced to the soil suspension for 1-2hrs. The
capillary tubes were then removed and gently touched onto HV agar
plates. The plates were then incubated at 28øC for 2 weeks. After
incubation the colonies were examined under a dissecting
microscope.
Isolates were transferred onto glycerol-asparagine-vitamins agar
slants. The composition of this medium was: L-asparagine, 1.0g;
glycerol, 10.0g; K2HPO4, 1.0g; thiamine-HCl, 0.5mg; riboflavin,
0.5mg; niacin, 0.5mg; Ca-pantothenate, 0.5mg; p-aminobenzoic-acid,
0.5mg; pyridoxin-HCl, 0.5mg; inositol, 0.5mg; biotin, 0.25mg; trace
salts solution (FeSO4.7H20, 0.1g; MnCl2.4H20, 0.01g; ZnSO4.7H20,
0.1g; dist.water, 100ml), 1.0ml; tap water 1.0l. The pH of the
medium was 7.0-7.4.
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Genus Number of
isolates
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Streptomyces 2696
Actinoplanes 876
Actinomadura 136
Amorphosporangium 116
Ampullariella 107
Micropolyspora 88
Micromonospora 79
Streptosporangium 68
Saccharopolyspora 62
Microbispora 54
Nocardia 45
Dactyylospora 34
Spirillospora 14
Pseudonocardia 12
Microtetraspora 9
Actinosynnema 4
Planobispora 4
Planomonospora 2
Streptoalloteichus 2
Streptoverticillium 2
Saccharomonospora 2
Thermomonospora 2
Unidentified 105
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Table 1. Number of isolates obtained from soils of North-East China
using the capillary tube technique.
Taxonomic grouping of isolates was determined by the procedure of
Goodfellow and Cross (1984).
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RESULTS and DISCUSSION
Table 1 lists the genera and strains of each taxon isolated from 34
samples collected in North-East China.
Nearly 60% identified isolates belong to the genus
Streptomyces. The diversity of actinomycetes was greater in
agricultural than in non-agricultural soils.
A wide variety of other genera, including a range of
actinoplanetes, was detected in all samples by the capillary tube
technique, which could be useful in the search for novel isolates
and to improve our knowledge of the distribution of actinomycetes
in soil.
The advantages of the capillary technique, first used by Palleroni
(1980) for isolation of Actinoplanaceae, relate to the
chemotaxis of motile spores and possibly have some unknown effect
in selecting non-motile spores.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The authors wish to thank Mr.Zhu Yi-wen and
Mr.Jiao Hua for help in collecting soil samples and Prof. Cai
Shunyang for advice and assistance.
REFERENCES
Goodfellow, M. & T. Cross (1984). Classification. In: M.
Goodfellow, M. Mordarski & S. T. Williams (eds.) The Biology of
the Actinomycetes. Academic Press, London, pp. 7-164
Nonomura, H. & M. Hayakawa (1988). New methods for the
selective isolation of soil actinomycetes. In: Y. Okami, T. Beppu &
H. Ogawara (eds.) Biology of Actinomycetes '88. Japan Sc.
Soc. Press, Tokyo, pp. 288-293
Palleroni, N. J. (1980). A chemotactic method for the
isolation of Actinoplanaceae. Arch. Mikrobiol., 128:
53-55
Copyright 1994 C. E. T. A.
