Abstract

Extreme environments harbor a number of microbes producing novel bioactive compounds. The aim of our study is to isolate and identify bioactive compound producing halophiles. Marine soil sediments were collected from the solar saltpans of Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu, India. Based on colony morphology, two species were isolated and identification was done by using morphological and biochemical tests. The extracts of cell-free supernatant of the two halophilic isolates were screened for bioactive compound and tested for antimicrobial activity against human pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas sp, Klebsiella sp, Vibrio sp, Escherichia coli and fungi Aspergillus niger and Penicillium chrysogenum by the agar cup diffusion method. The results were then compared to standard antibiotics which showed 80% of similar activity in 50 μL/g concentration. In addition, the arbitrary unit of two isolates was calculated against S. aureus which produced enhanced inhibitory results. Hence our finding illustrated that Thoothukudi saltpan might be considered as a resource for novel bioactive compounds.

Key words: Halophilic bacteria, bioactive compound, anti-microbial activity, arbitrary unit, Thoothukudi saltpan.