RESEARCH ARTICLE

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 7 No. 2, December 1995, p. 118-121

ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIA ASSOCIATED WITH ELAEIDOBIUS KAMERUNICUS AND OIL PALM FLOWERS

HUSSEIN, M. Y.*; NORHAZNI, M. S.+; ALI, J. H.+

ABSTRACT

A study was carried out to isolate and identify Gram-negative bacteria associated with the larvae of Elaeidobius kamerunicus and male oil palm spikelets. Nine species of floral bacteria and seven species of larval bacteria were identified. They belong to four genera, namely Enterobacter, Serratia, Klebsiella and Escherichia. Most of the bacteria isolated from larvae were also found in both the soil and male spikelets. Two predominant species of entomopathogenic bacteria isolated from the weevils and spikelets were Enterobacter cloacae and Serratia marcescens. Often, the same species of bacteria isolated from the weevil’s haemocoel were also found in the intestine. The frequenceis of isolation were 17%, 12% and 5% for samples collected from oil palm plantations at Banting, Labuan and Serdang respectively.

KEYWORDS:


* Department of Plant Protection

+ Department of Biology,
Universiti Pertanian Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.