EFFECT OF DIFFERENT MEDIA FOR ISOLATION, GROWTH AND MAINTENANCE OF ACTINOMYCETES FROM MANGROVE SEDIMENTS

Out of many recommended media for selective isolation of actinomycetes from soil; glucose asparagine agar, Grein and Meyer's agar, oat meal agar and Kuster's agar were found suitable for isolation of actinomycetes from mangrove sediments. The best media allowing good development of actinomycetes, while suppressing bacterial growth, were those containing starch or glucose as the carbon source with casein, and asparagine or nitrate as the nitrogen source. Seawater-agar was also tried for isolation and maintenance and found extremely good as a maintenance medium. Bacteriostatic and fungistatic compounds such as calcium carbonate, phenol, lactic acid and acetic acid were used for selective isolation of actinomycetes,