Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

The Influence of Soil’s Physicochemical Properties and Land Use Systems on the Abundance of Actinomycetes Populations

Judith M. Gitari, Moses M. Muraya, Benson O. Onyango, John M. Maingi

South Asian Journal of Research in Microbiology · pp. 20–37 · Published 22 Aug 2023

10.9734/sajrm/2023/v16i2304

Abstract

Aims: In this study, we assessed the effect of physicochemical properties of soils from different land use systems on the population of Actinomycetes. Study Design: A cross sectional survey design in line transect sampling was used in collection of samples from land use systems. A 4×6×3 factorial experiments laid in completely randomized design was used in determining Actinomycetes population in land use system and media type culture. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Meru south sub-county, Kenya, between January 2019 and July 2019. Methodology: Cultural growth of Actinomycetes was determined using four different media type culture. The physicochemical properties of soil were evaluated using standard laboratory methods. The data obtained were analyzed using analysis of variance and significantly means were separated using Least Significance Difference at α = 0.05 in SAS version 9.4. Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between soil physicochemical properties and Actinomycetes population.  Actinomycetes population varied significantly (p < 0.05) among the different land use systems. Results: The study's findings revealed significant variations (p < 0.05) in Actinomycetes populations across the different land use systems. The type of media used significantly influenced the growth and proliferation of Actinomycetes colonies, with the Starch casein medium exhibiting the highest number of colonies (3.4 × 105 cfu/ml of soil sample) and the modified Luria Bertani (M1) medium showing the lowest (1.7 × 105 cfu/ml). The Actinomycetes populations demonstrated significant variations (p < 0.05) among the different land use systems. Correlation analysis revealed a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.63407; p < 0.0001) between Actinomycetes population and soil pH, as well as weaker positive correlations (r = 0.3375; p = 0.012) between soil moisture content and Actinomycetes population, and available potassium and Actinomycetes load (r = 0.31483; p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The study concludes that the population of Actinomycetes was affected by soil physicochemical properties and consequently land uses.

Land use systems actinomycetes soil physicochemical properties actinomycetes population

References (19)

  1. 1 The diversity and biogeography of soil bacterial communities [DOI]
  2. 2 Bioactive Microbial Metabolites [DOI]
  3. 3 Cross-biome metagenomic analyses of soil microbial communities and their functional attributes [DOI]
  4. 4 ECOLOGY OF ACTINOMYCETES [DOI]
  5. 5 Digging deeper to find unique microbial communities: The strong effect of depth on the structure of bacterial and archaeal communities in soil [DOI]
  6. 6 Actinobacteria from Arid and Desert Habitats: Diversity and Biological Activity [DOI]
  7. 7 Soil properties and microbial activity across a 500m elevation gradient in a semi-arid environment [DOI]
  8. 8 Actinomycetes: A Source of Lignocellulolytic Enzymes [DOI]
  9. 9 Land use change alters functional gene diversity, composition and abundance in Amazon forest soil microbial communities [DOI]
  10. 10 Isolation and characterization of potential antibiotic producing actinomycetes from water and sediments of Lake Tana, Ethiopia [DOI]
  11. 11 Soil pH and plant diversity shape soil bacterial community structure in the active layer across the latitudinal gradients in continuous permafrost region of Northeastern China [DOI]
  12. 12 Exploring Soil Factors Determining Composition and Structure of the Bacterial Communities in Saline-Alkali Soils of Songnen Plain [DOI]
  13. 13 Optimization of the analytical method for the determination of organic matter [DOI]
  14. 14 Measuring and Evaluating the Performance of a Wastewater Treatment Plant [DOI]
  15. 15 Physicochemical Analysis of a Soil near Microbiology Laboratory at The University of Ilorin, Main Campus
  16. 16 Study of presence of available potassium in soil of Lunawada Taluka territory
  17. 17 International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology [DOI]
  18. 18 Journal of Environmental and Public Health [DOI]
  19. 19 Journal of Soil Science and Environmental Management [DOI]

Cited by 14

Response of Soil Non-Target Microbes and Physicochemical Properties to Four Selected Chemical Fungicides in Fusarium Wilt-Affected Cashew Fields

William V. Mbasa, Wilson A. Nene, Fortunus A. Kapinga · Research in Plant Disease · 2025

Soil Quality Dynamics across Diverse Land-Use Types in the Northwestern Himalayan Mountain Ecosystem

S. Sharma, S. K. Bhardwaj, D. R. Bhardwaj · Eurasian Soil Science · 2025

Responses and interactions of soil cadmium-PAHs and bacterial communities to ecosystems and seasons

Xue Li, Junwei Ma, Yuqian Li · Applied Soil Ecology · 2025

Actinobacterial Communities from Mid Karnataka Soils: Isolation, Characterization and 16S rRNA Based Identification

Meenakshi s, Jyothi Hiremath, Shilpa M P · International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews · 2026

Characterization of Actinobacteria strains in Lebanese soil with an emphasis on investigating their antibacterial activity

Rayan Zahr, Sarah Zahr, Rana El Hajj · Brazilian Journal of Microbiology · 2024

Antimicrobial and antioxidant potential of Streptomyces spp isolated from the rhizosphere of Origanum majorana in Lebanon

Mona Tfaily, Jamilah Borjac · Phytomedicine Plus · 2025

In vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of bioactive compounds extracted from Streptomyces africanus strain E2 isolated from Moroccan soil

Said Rammali, Fatima Zahra Kamal, Mohamed El Aalaoui · Scientific Reports · 2024

Showing 7 of 14 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

43

Page views

0

PDF downloads

10

Outbound clicks

14

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.