Browsing by Author "Turyagyenda, Laban"

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Diversity and prevalence of indigenous soil bacillus spp. in the major cabbage growing agroecological zones of Uganda
(East African Nature and Science Organization, 2024-09-25) Baryakabona, SIlver; Ssekandi, Joseph; Turyagyenda, Laban
Different species of genus Bacillushave been reported from different environments of the world. They are reported to play a role of soil fertility improvement, plant growth promotion and disease and pest management. Most of these reports on Bacillus species are from studies conducted outside Uganda and therefore information on the prevalence and diversity of bacillus species in Ugandan soils is scanty.This study aimed at determining the prevalenceand diversity of Bacillusspp. isolated from the cabbage rhizosphere in the four major cabbage-growingagroecological zones of Uganda. The experimentwas conducted in a laboratory at the Collegeof VeterinaryMedicine, Animal Resourcesand Biosafety Makerere University for morphological and biochemical identification of the Bacillusbacteria.DNA extraction and PCR were conducted at the College of Natural Resources Makerere University while sequencing was done at Macrogen laboratories in Korea and Inqaba Biotec in South Africa. Morphological, biochemical and genomic analyses revealed five Bacillusspp. (22 Bacillus strains) grouped as B. cereus, B. mycoides, B. thuringiensis, B. megaterium and B. bingmayongensis. B. cereus andB. megaterium were the most dominant and widely spreadBacillus spp. A phylogenetic tree indicated three major clads, showingthatB. thuringiensis was closely related toB. cereus whileB.bingmayongesis was closely relatedto B.megaterium. TheB. mycoides were closely related to someB. cereus strains and B. bingmayongensis. The phylogenetic tree further showed that some Bacillus strains of the same species were distantly related.It was therefore concluded thatmost abundant and prevalent Bacillusspp. in Ugandan soils were B. cereus andB. megaterium. The presence and abundanceof these bacillus species in the Ugandan soil presents an opportunity for soil scientists to innovatively manipulate them for use as biofertilizers and biopesticides for crop production and management. Such innovations would reduce the reliance of farmers on synthetic fertilizers that are pollutants to the environment and unhealthy to the users and consumers.
Effect of animal manure on population dynamics of indigenous soil Bacillus spp.
(Cerrado Publishing, 2024-07-22) Baryakabona, Silver; Ssekandi, Joseph; Turyagyenda, Laban
Bacillus spp. are soil inhabitants, many of which play vital roles as biofertilizers and biopesticides in plant production. These bacteria derive their nourishment from soil organic carbon and nitrogen provided by organic matter. Reports indicate that animal manure increases the population and diversity of Bacillus spp. in the soil. However, there is limited information on which of the three commonly used animal manure (cattle, goat, and chicken) is more effective in multiplying Bacillus cells. This study evaluated the effectiveness of cattle, goat, and chicken manures, standard nutrient broth, and soil, as growth media, on the multiplication of 22 indigenous soil Bacillus spp. strains previously isolated from the cabbage rhizosphere. A Completely Randomized Design with five treatments replicated three times was used and the conditions were kept at room temperature. Both standard nutrient broth and sterilized soil media were used as controls. Colony-forming unit counts of Bacillus spp. were subjected to Log (x+1) transformation. One-way analysis of variance was used to generate mean differences and means separated using Duncan’s LSD test (p = 0.05). Linear curves were drawn to compare the growth trends for each Bacillus strain. The findings indicate that the growth of Bacillus spp. strains in animal manure were significantly higher than in the soil media. Growth in the soil media was significantly lower than in standard nutrient broth media growth. Results further show that the growth of the Bacillus spp. in all the media followed the normal growth curve of bacterial cells. Results from this study, therefore, suggest that amendment of soil with cattle, goat, and chicken manures enhances the growth and multiplication of soil Bacillus spp. and this has a positive effect on soil fertility. These manures can also be used in the commercial production of the bacillus bacteria as a biofertilizer and biopesticide. Biofertilizers are cheap, have long-term effects on soil fertility, and are health-friendly to the environment and the user.