Identification of the Bacterial Community in the Gut of Millipedes

Ecosystem engineers influence the structure and function of soil food webs through non-trophic interactions. The activity of large soil dwellers, such as earthworms, has a significant impact on the soil microarthropod community. However, the influence of millipedes on soil microarthropod communities remains largely unknown. Bacterial strains from the gut of two different millipedes, Arthospheara magna and Alacobolus newtoni, were isolated. After culturing on the described media, the bacterial isolates were identified through phenotypic, biochemical, and molecular analysis. Six bacteria were isolated, and molecular analysis revealed that nucleotide sequence similarity was seen with Salmonella bongo, Erwinia papaya, Citrobacter portucalensis, C. freundii, Heyndrickxia oleronia, and Klebsiella oxytoca. It is confirmed by the sequence similarity search BLAST tool. These isolates might play an important role to increasing the quality and fertility of the soil.