ANTIFOULING POTENTIAL OF PSEUDOMONAS AEUROGINOSA ISOLATED FROM MARINE WATERJ.S. JOSPHINE AND W. A. MANJUSHAAbstract In the marine environment, most solid surfaces are covered by microbial biofilms, mainly composed of bacteria and diatoms. Biofouling is a major problem in marine sector which needs high economy for control and cleaning processes. Marine micro-organisms are an important source of bioactive metabolites and they synthesize ecofriendly antifoulants that inhibit the adhesion of organisms. To investigate the antifouling activity, the marine bacterial strains were isolated from marine water samples collected from Colachel harbour. Totally seven bacterial strains were isolated and subjected to biofouling and antifouling assays and among that S18 strain showed remarkable antifouling activity. The extracts of Pseudomonas aeuroginosa was screened for antimicrobial and antimicrofouling assays. The results showed that the extract inhibited the growth and attachment of biofilm forming bacterial strains S7 and S11. Antifouling activities are mainly due to the presence of bioactive metabolites present in the Pseudomonas aeuroginosa. By the 16S rDNA screening the highly potent S18 strain was identified as Pseudomonas aeuroginosa. The current study revealed that the Pseudomonas aeuroginosa could produce potent antifoulant which can be used to control biofouling in marine environment. |