The first report of opportunistic human pathogenic bacteria isolated from Brahmina coriacea (Scarabaeidae: Coleoptera) in north-western Himalayas

Staphylococcus haemolyticus is an opportunistic human pathogenic bacterium, which constitutes the major part of human skin microflora. This bacterium showed resistance to most of the antibiotics, spread widely in hospitals and cause various infections in human beings. This bacterium has been reported from infected humans, animals and some insects, whereas, this is the first report of Staphylococcus haemolyticus from the scarabaeids in the world. The gut microbiota of white grubs helps in the digestion and assimilation of food such as cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin degradation by producing various enzymes. We have isolated 11 cellulolytic bacteria from the gut of Brahmina coriacea (Hope) grubs, which were collected from different locations of north-western Himalayas. S. haemolyticus was only reported from the grubs of Nauni, Solan region of Himachal Pradesh, India and identified by using 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. S. haemolyticus was able to degrade the cellulose in Carboxy Methyl cellulose (CMC) media. This bacterium can be used in industries for the management of agro-wastes, in pulp and paper industry and in biofuel production.