Abstract

ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF LIPOPEPTIDE BIOSURFACTANT- SURFACTIN

Dr. Priya Iyer* and P. Sandhya

ABSTRACT

Lipopeptides form the most widely reported class of biosurfactants having antimicrobial action. Among the lipopeptides, surfactin, produced by Bacillus subtilis is the first and the most well-known member. Other antimicrobial lipopeptides include fengycin, iturin, bacillomycins and mycosubtilins produced by B. subtilis. The production of these antimicrobials by Bacillus probiotics is one of major mechanisms by which they inhibit the growth of pathogenic micro-organisms in the gastrointestinal tract. In the present study, the crude lipopeptide characterized in the previous studies was tested for its antimicrobial activity against 7 different pathogenic micro-organisms viz; Salmonella paratyphi A; Enterobacter sp.; Enterococcus sp; Streptococcus sp; Stahylococcus sp; E.coli & Pseudomonas sp. The maximum zone of inhibition was found to be 6cm at the concentration of 1500μg/ml in Salmonella paratyphi A; Stahylococcus sp and E.coli.

Keywords: Salmonella paratyphi A; Enterobacter spp; Enterococcus spp; Streptococcus spp; Stahylococcus spp; E.coli & Pseudomonas spp; surfactin.