Some biochemical characteristics of bacterial isolates obtained from Haliciona koremella and its ambient seawater

A total of 87 heterotrophic bacteria isolated from Haliclona koromella and its ambient seawater were characterized in terms of their biochemical characteristics. The biochemical tests done on the isolates were the following: acid production from utilization of mannitol, starch hydrolysis, triple sugar iron reaction, motility testing. Approximately sixty one percent of the total number of bacterial isolates can produce acid from mannitol. In terms of the Triple Sugar Iron reaction, 48.28 percent of the total number of bacterial isolates were glucose fermenters but non sucrose/lactose fermenters. On the other hand, 27.59 percent of the total number of isolates were glucose, sucrose and/or lactose fermenters. The remaining 24.13 percent did not utilize any of the three sugar present in the TSI medium. Moreover, it was observed that 14.29 percent of the total bacterial isolates and 51.61 percent of the total bacterial isolates from water can utilize starch as its main source of carbon. The motility test showed that 57.47 percent of the total bacterial isolates are motile strains