Abstract:
Sea turtle population had decreased globally and facing serious extinction. There are
many factors that lead to this situation. One of the factors is predation of sea turtle
eggs and bacterial infection which can disrupt the embryonic development of turtle
eggs. Because of that, this study was conducted to investigate which bacteria species
exist in the rotten eggs. This study was conducted at Chagar Hutang Turtle Sanctuary,
Redang Island with objectives to identify bacteria in rotten Green turtle ( Chelonia
mydas) eggs. The rotten green turtle egg samples from Chagar Hutang, as well as
sediment sample from the egg chamber were brought back to the laboratory for
further analysis and identification. All bacteria isolated were regularly cultured on
nutrient agar. The l 6S rRNA cloning via Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was done
to amplify the target region and the sample was sent to 1st Base Sdn. Bhd. for DNA
sequencing. Sequencing results revealed four species of bacteria from rotten egg and
sediment samples. These bacteria were identified as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas
aeruginosa, Vibrio hepatarius and also Klebsiella pneumoniae. All these bacteria are
known to be pathogen to human and may interfere with the embryonic development
of green turtle eggs. Bacteria that present in the sediment might enter turtle eggs
through pores that present on the shells and cause infection to the developing embryo.
The study will aid in providing valuable information on the occurrence of bacteria
isolated from rotten eggs of green turtle and sediment sample of nesting sites and it
will be a platform to provide better understanding of bacterial infection that may
affect the hatching success of green turtle eggs.
