Isolation and Identification of Culturable Bacteria and Fungi from Mixed Dipterocarp and Mangrove Forests of Brunei Darussalam

Abstract

Unique forests comprise of culturable microbes with unique properties that are of potential biotechnological uses. Considering that the pristine mixed dipterocarp forest and mangrove forest in Brunei Darussalam located in northwest Borneo in Southeast Asia are not well explored concerning their microbial diversity, this study aims to isolate and identify the culturable bacteria and fungi from these forest ecosystems. Bacteria and fungi were isolated using nutrient agar and potato dextrose agar, respectively. Microbial identification was done by DNA barcoding using 16S rRNA for bacteria and rRNA-ITS marker for fungi and supplemented by Biolog. A total of 16 bacterial and 19 fungal isolates were obtained which were identified to six bacterial and four fungal genera. Mixed dipterocarp forest harbored six genera of bacteria (Agrobacterium, Bacillus, Ralstonia, Staphylococcus, Burkholderia, and Cedecea), whereas mangrove forest showed two genera (Bacillus and Staphylococcus). Both types of forests showed three genera of fungi which were Trichoderma, Penicillium, and Aspergillus, with Saksenaea isolated only from mangrove forests. This study not only enhances the understanding of the diversity of culturable microbes in Brunei’s forest ecosystems, which has been less investigated till date but also of their ecological and biotechnological value.