Abstracto

Actinomycetes of Western Ghats Karnataka, India

K.S.Shobha, R.Onkarappa

Western Ghats in Karnataka are one of the 25 biodiversity hotspots in world. These forest soils were studied for Actinomycetes diversity, by screening for antibiotics, enzymes and pigment production. 27 isolates were subjected to in-vitro bioassay by agar - well diffusion method. The results revealed the broad spectrumantimicrobial potential of these isolates against pathogenic microorganisms like Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas fluorescence, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus spp, Vibrio cholerae, Cryptococcus neoformens, Candida albicans, Candida lipolytica and Sacchromyces cerevesiae. Characterization of metabolites by TLC (Rf value 0.29 to 0.93) and purity assessment byHPLC was done. UV absorption studies of the active metabolites showed varied absorption peaks (203nmto 345nm) indicating diversity of antibiotics.