Isolation and Characterization of Microbial Diversity of Soil of Dhanbad Coal Mines using Molecular Approach

Soil is the richest ecosystem there is, as far as the diversity and populations of microorganisms is concerned. It is known that there could be over ten billion microbes per gram of soil, making soil the ideal ecosystem for mining different genes, ORFs etc. Microbial Diversity forms the lifeline of an ecosystem, interfering, regulating and participating in the biogeochemical activities therein. The present study was conducted to identify key extremophilic species residing in the coal mines of Dhanbad plateau in Bihar, India. Dhanbad plateau soil presents a unique niche, rich in coal and minerals. Soil from the coal mines was analysed through metagenomic as well as culture-dependent approach to enlist the micro-organisms native to the place. The culturable fraction lead to the identification of Klebsiella spp, Enterobacteriaceae, Serratia marcescens, and Providencia spp