Isolation and characterization of bacteria from cow dung of desi cow breed on different morpho-biochemical parameters in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

The present study includes the collection, isolation and characterization of microorganisms from the cow dung of local varieties from different places of Dehradun, Uttrakhand, India. Four different strains of bacteria B1, B3, B4, B5 were isolated in which three are gram positive (cocci form) and one is gram-negative (bacillus form). Only one strain shows (B4) the formation of endospore. The enzymatic activity of four isolates revealed that strains B3, B5 and both control1 (E. coli) and control 2(B. cereus) showed amylase activity whereas none of the strains showed protease and lipase activity. To test the susceptibility of isolated strains against chemotherapeutic agents, eight antimicrobial drugs were used to treat the susceptibility patterns of isolated bacteria. Among four isolates (B1, B3, B4, B5) strain B3 and control 2 (B. cereus) shows resistance to penicillin and rest of the strains were sensitive to all these antibiotics and also shows antagonistic activity against different human pathogens. The strains B1 and B3 shows moderate inhibition zone against Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 657, Klebsiella pneumonia MTCC5615 and Bacillus pumilis MTCC 1607 whereas strain B4 and B5 shows maximum zone of inhibition against Listeria monocytogenes ATCC657and Bacillus pumilis MTCC 1607.Therefore, intensive efforts must be initiated to identify and preserve all the indigenous breeds of cows for comparative chemical, microbiological and immunological analysis of milk, urine and dung with special reference to their agricultural, medicinal and nutritional significance.