Growth Responses of Some Bacterial Isolates to Some Environmental Parameters

This study was carried out to investigate the antimicrobial activities of bacterial isolates of maize against plant pathogens as well as their growth responses to some environmental parameters. Twenty four bacterial isolates were obtained from maize plants collected from the Department of Biological Sciences, AfeBabalola University, Ado-Ekiti. The isolates were characterized by their biochemical and physiological characteristics and were identified as Kurthiazopfu, Morganellamorganic, Rhodococcusequi, Bacillus subtilis, Catabaterhongkongensis, Brevibacteriumotitidis, Lactobacillus coleohominis, Staphylococcus aureus, Propionibacterium acnes among others. Their responses to different NaCl concentrations, sugars, temperature as well as antibiotics were determined. Most of the isolates were able to withstand various environmental parameters in which they were subjected to. Also, eight isolates were able to ferment sucrose. The bacterial isolates showed a degree of resistance to the antibiotics tested. There was a high prevalence of multidrug resistant bacteria showing resistance to 3 - 8 drugs. The antagonistic effect of the bacterial isolates against selected fungi was determined. None of the isolates showed antagonistic potential against the fungal pathogens. However, the supposed antagonistic bacterial species can be genetically modified to produce secondary metabolites that will result in biocontrol.