Abstract

Soil samples from ex-tin mining area located in proximity to Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Kampar campus was collected and cultured on nutrient agar plates. The morphological characteristics including basic staining, Gram staining and endospore staining of five selected isolates (SL1-5) were studied. All isolates had circular shape, opaque appearance and smooth surface. SL1, SL2 and SL3 were Gram-positive bacilli and endospore formers. SL4 and SL5 were Gram-negative cocci. The sensitivity test towards 17 types of antibiotics was carried out using the disc diffusion method. SL2, SL3 and SL4 were multidrug-resistant isolates. Prominently, SL4 was resistant to 10 types of antibiotics. Antibacterial activity against 11 types of bacteria was also evaluated. SL1 was found to produce antibacterial agent that inhibit the growth of Salmonella sp. andStaphylococcus epidermidis. Protease, α-amylase, lipase and another 19 types of enzyme activity were screened using enzymatic assay and API ZYM kit assay. All isolates had proteolytic and lipolytic activities. SL1, SL2 and SL5 were able to produce protease enzyme whereas SL4 was able to produce phospholipase enzyme. In API ZYM assay, all isolates were able to produce esterase (C4), esterase lipase (C8) and leucine arylamidase (Leu). However, α-amylase producer was absent. Further studies will be carried out to identify the species of all isolates.

 Key words: Nutrient agar (NA), multidrug-resistant, disc diffusion, antibacterial assay, enzymatic assay.