BIOPROSPECTING FUNGICIDAL METABOLITE PRODUCING MARINE ACTINOMYCETES FROM SOUTHERN COASTAL REGIONS OF INDIA

Life Science - Microbiology

Abstract

The fungal pathogens pose deleterious effects on the human beings, most of these diseases are not fatal, but once contracted, they may forever be a source of constant irritation. Microbial secondary metabolites are promising in this aspect by efficiently combating the pathogens. Actinomycetes are priceless prokaryotes which are reported to produce many of the fungicidal secondary metabolites. This investigation has been focused on isolating fungicidal metabolite producing actinomycetes strains from the southern coastal regions of India. A total of 30 actinomycetes isolates were obtained out of which five strains (PA2, KA2, NA2, AG1 and BW2-3) showed a good spectrum of fungicidal activity. These strains were identified as Streptomyces genera of actinomycetes by their morphological, biochemical and molecular characteristics, and their sequenceshave been submitted to the NCBI. Further, the secondary metabolites from these strains were extracted using acetone. These metabolites manifested a good spectrum of antifungal, antimicrobial activities against clinically important fungal and bacterial human pathogens. In addition, they contributed significant radical scavenging mechanism as evinced by DPPH and reducing power assays. Hence, this research explains the importance of marine actinomycetes and their prolific source of secondary metabolites with efficient biological activities that gain further research.