Characterization of musty odor producing actinomycetes in Malaysia

The presence of geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) becomes an increasing concern as they are known to cause earthy or musty odor in freshwater environments. Geosmin and 2-MIB outbreaks in Malaysia are not well understood and since Malaysia has a stable temperature throughout the year, no information has been reported on effect of temperature to the odor production. In this study, 6 isolated strains were selected for study of the effect of temperature (20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 & 50°C) on geosmin and 2-MIB production. Preliminary results indicate that at temperature 30 °C, Strain 5 showed highest geosmin production (129.06 µg/L) and Strain 2 produced highest 2-MIB (19.89 µg/L). PCR band was obtained in a test whether these isolated strains had geoA gene or not.