SCREENING ESTUARINE ACTIONMYCETES FOR ANTIBIOTIC PRODUCTIONJOE DSouzA and R. VAIDYAAbstract The actinonietes exists in various habitats in nature. The terrestrial ones from the soils have been extensively used for the production of secondary metabolites useful to humans, however the aquatic counterparts have remained relatively unknown and uxiexploited. The sediments from the mangrove regions of Chapora, Mandovi and Zuari estuaries were screened to isolate actinomycetes in this investigation and 45 isolates were obtained. The isolates were screened for primary antibacterial activity of which 6 actinomycetes consisting of 2 species of Streptosporangium and 4 species of Streptomyces showed considerable promising antimicrobial activity against 8 test organisms.The secondary screening of the actinomycetes also indicated positive antibacterial activity mainly against Escherisclzia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Staphylococcus aureus and Sarcina lutea. Our studies indicate that the mangrove sediments harbour diverse species of actinomycetes possessing potent antibacterial activity, which could be later scaled up for large scale commercial production of antibiotics if found suitable.The extraction of antibacterial activity in various solvents indicated that the active organic moiety responsible for antibacterial activity was soluble in amyl alcohol and diethyl either and was found active against the test pathogens as it retained its activity after solvent extraction.
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