Abstract

Ascidians are rich source of bioactive agents which could be used for novel antimicrobial drugs. The present investigation inspects the antibacterial potential of ascidian, Polyclinum madrasensis collected from Mandapam, the Palk Bay region, Southeast coast of India. The crude extracts were tested for inhibition of bacterial growth against human pathogens.  Antibacterial assay was carried out by agar well diffusion method. The maximum inhibition zone (12.0±0.5 mm) was observed against the Staphylococcus aureus in crude methanol extract. The consequent zone of 6.5±0.1 mm was observed against S. aureus in ethanol extract and minimum inhibition zone (3.2±0.5 mm) was noticed with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Molecular weight of tissue protein was determined through sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacryalamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and active metabolites were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The protein bands were at 36.5, 20.5, and 10.5 kDa, in SDS-PAGE and O-H stretch carboxylic acid compounds identified at the peak 3533.59 cm^-1. It could be concluded from the present study that crude extract of the ascidian, P. madrasensis has potential antimicrobial effect against human pathogens.

Key wards: Polyclinum madrasensis, bioactive compounds, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacryalamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE).