Abstracto

Isolation, identification and characterization of novel pigment producing bacteria from distillery spent wash

Varsha M.Chaudhari, Arpana H.Jobanputra

An unidentified orange bacterial strain isolated fromdistillery spent wash when characterized for morphological, microscopic, biochemical and molecular features (16SrRNA sequencing) was identified as Planococcus maritimus AHJ_2. Small orange coloniesmeasuring 2-3mmin diameter on Luria Bertani agar mediumwas the striking feature noted in the organism. The bacteriumcould grow over a wide range of media, pH (3.0-11.0) and temperature (20-37°C) but optimal growth and pigmentation was observed in LB medium at pH 7.0 at 37°C containing 0.5 percent NaCl. Spectrophotometric, FTIR and HPLC analysis of pigments revealed the presence of carotenoid type of pigment.