Paper Details

Name: Bharathi Prakash, Sumangala, Ramya, Suma, Vikshitha, Shamitha Kiran, Shravan Kumar, Naveen Raj
Country: India

Year: 2026
Volume: Volume: 13, Issue: 2 (July-December)
Page Number: 19-27
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22095922

ABSTRACT
Cave ecosystems represent unique and nutrient-limited environments that harbour diverse microbial communities with important ecological and biotechnological significance. The present study was undertaken to investigate the bacterial microflora associated with Pandava Guha (cave), a historically significant rock-cut cave located near Kadri Manjunath Temple, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India. Air flora and soil samples were collected from Pandava Guha, Grave and Stone Cave. Bacterial isolation was carried out by the air exposure (sedimentation) method for air and serial dilution technique for soil using Tryptone Soya Agar (TSA). Bacterial growth was observed in all air and soil samples, indicating the presence of diverse microbial populations within the cave environment. The bacterial isolates were characterized. Representative bacterial isolates were identified as Bacillus spp., Clostridium spp., Micrococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. The predominance of Gram-positive bacteria suggests their adaptation to nutrient-limited cave conditions. The findings demonstrate that Pandava Guha serves as a valuable natural habitat for diverse bacterial communities and highlight the ecological importance of cave microorganisms. Further molecular identification and metagenomic studies are required to explore the complete microbial diversity and evaluate their potential applications in biotechnology and environmental research.

Keywords
Cave microflora; Pandava ; Air flora; Soil scraping; Bacterial diversity; Tryptone Soya Agar.