The first report of opportunistic human pathogenic bacteria isolated
from Brahmina coriacea (Scarabaeidae: Coleoptera) in north-western
Himalayas
Abstract
Staphylococcus haemolyticus is an opportunistic human pathogenic
bacterium, which constitutes the major part of human skin microflora.
This bacterium showed resistance to most of the antibiotics, spread
widely in hospitals and cause various infections in human beings. This
bacterium has been reported from infected humans, animals and some
insects, whereas, this is the first report of Staphylococcus
haemolyticus from the scarabaeids in the world. The gut microbiota of
white grubs helps in the digestion and assimilation of food such as
cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin degradation by producing various
enzymes. We have isolated 11 cellulolytic bacteria from the gut of
Brahmina coriacea (Hope) grubs, which were collected from different
locations of north-western Himalayas. S. haemolyticus was only reported
from the grubs of Nauni, Solan region of Himachal Pradesh, India and
identified by using 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. S. haemolyticus
was able to degrade the cellulose in Carboxy Methyl cellulose (CMC)
media. This bacterium can be used in industries for the management of
agro-wastes, in pulp and paper industry and in biofuel production.