ISOLATION OF FUNGI PRESENT IN ANTHILL SOIL

ABSTRACT

Ants are recognized as one of the major sources of soil disturbance world-wide because of their great diversity and abundance, wide geographical distribution and social behaviour; they exist in soil as colonial micro-communities building nest/hill. In this study, the fungal population of soil from ant hills from different regions was examined. An aliquot of 1ml of the second fold dilution was added to sterile Petriplates containing sterile Potato Dextrose Agar. The plates were incubated at 28 ⁰C for 3-4 days. The fungal counts ranged from 3.389±0.13cfu/g to 4.498±0.03cfu/g. The result revealed that the samples haboured 6 fungal species which included Penicillin sp., Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium sp., Penicillin sp. and Trichoderma sp been the most dominant species. There exist a significant difference in the fungal population present in the anthill soil and the normal soil; 7 out of 8 samples, contained a higher amount of fungal population in the anthill soil. The increase in fungal population in anthill soil signifies that the activities of ants in the soil such as generation of organic waste increases fungal diversity and population. Asperigilus sp and Fusarium sp. Among the other isolates are endophytic fungi which could aid nutrient absorption in plants and thus can be used as soil nutrient enhancers or modern fertilizers.