BACKGROUND For thousands of years, earthworm and its products have been used for its therapeutic benefits. The traditional medical knowledge of indigenous people throughout the world more particularly in Asia, including India, Myanmar, China, Korea and Vietnam has played vital role in identifying, extracting and using biologically active compounds from earthworms. MATERIALS AND METHODS Effect...

The functional properties of the neuromuscular systems of animals are frequently studied by using isolated nerve-muscle preparations and a suitable physiological saline solution. In general suitable salines are obtained by determining the concentrations of major ions in an animal's body fluids and duplicating these concentrations in the form of a saline solution. Any alteration in the concentra...

The ability of earthworms to decompose lignocellulose involves the assistance of microorganisms in their digestive system. While many studies have revealed a diverse microbiota in the earthworm gut, including aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms, it remains unclear which of these species contribute to lignocellulose digestion. In this study, aerobic microorganisms with cellulolytic activity iso...

BACKGROUND Earthworms play a critical role in organic matter decomposition because of the interactions they establish with microorganisms. The ingestion, digestion, assimilation of organic material in the gut and then casting is the first step in earthworm-microorganism interactions. The current knowledge of these direct effects is still limited for epigeic earthworm species, mainly those livin...

BACKGROUND Epigeic earthworms are key organisms in organic matter decomposition because of the interactions they establish with microorganisms. The earthworm species and the quality and/or substrate availability are expected to be major factors influencing the outcome of these interactions. Here we tested whether and to what extent the epigeic earthworms Eisenia andrei, Eisenia fetida and Perio...

Resin coupled with m-aminophenylbornic acid was used to isolate a glycosylated component from homogenate of earthworm (Eisenia fetida). The fraction showed a single band on SDS-PAGE with a molecular weight of 34, 193 Da determined by mass spectroscopy. The N-terminal region is AQVCCPDI, different from those of earthworm fibrinolytic enzymes reported previously (Nakajima et al. 1993). This glyco...

In the Great Lakes region, little data exist on the distribution of exotic earthworm species or their relative impacts to soil structure and plant communities in forest types other than those dominated by sugar maple. Our objective was to document the earthworm populations in relation to their proximity to human development (e.g., campgrounds, boat landings, roads) in beech-maple dominated fore...

Actinomycetes from earthworm castings were isolated and screened for their antimicrobial activity and industrial enzymes. A total of 48 isolates were obtained from 12 samples of earthworm castings. Highest numbers of isolates were recovered from forest site (58.33 %) as compared to grassland (25%) and agricultural land (16.66%). The growth patterns, mycelial coloration of abundance actinomycete...

BACKGROUND Infiltration is a key process in determining the water balance, but so far effects of earthworms, soil texture, plant species diversity and their interaction on infiltration capacity have not been studied. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We measured infiltration capacity in subplots with ambient and reduced earthworm density nested in plots of different plant species (1, 4, and 16 s...