Abstract

STUDIES ON MICROBIAL DIVERSITY AND THIER ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY AGAINST UTI PATHOGENS

Nithya*

Abstract

The soil is considered as the land surface of the earth which provides the substratum for plant and animal life. The soil represents a favourable habitat for microorganisms and is inhabited by a wide range of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, algae, viruses and protozoa. The physical structure, aeration, water holding capacity and availability of nutrients are determined by the mineral constituents of soil, which are formed by the weathering of rock and the degradative metabolic activities of the soil microorganisms. Cultivated soil has relatively more population of microorganisms than the fallow land and the soils rich in organic matter contain much more population than sandy and eroded soils. Microbes in the soil are important to us in maintaining soil fertility, cycling of nutrient elements in the biosphere and sources of industrial products such as enzymes, antibiotics, vitamins, hormones, organic acids etc. But certain microbes in the soil are the causal agents of various human and plant diseases.

Keywords: .