Evaluating Desert Actinomycetes for Enzyme and Antibacterial Production

Abstract

A total of 13 Actinomycete strains were isolated from 70 soil samples collected from five locations across the Jeddah Province, while the other two locations located in Baljurashi province of Saudi Arabia. All 13 isolates were purified and subjected to enzymatic screening and antibacterial assays. The results indicated that two of these isolates (AC45 and AC69) produced both enzymes and exerted some antibacterial activity. Isolate AC45 produced more amylase and polygalacturonase (697.8 and 1498.59 units/ml, respectively) than isolate AC69; however, AC69 secreted more lipase than AC45 (6957 and 22127 unit/ml, respectively). Furthermore, both AC45 and AC69 exhibited good antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Bacillus subtilis. The two isolates were identified using their 16S rRNA sequences, and the results suggest that isolate AC45 shares 99.71% similarity with Streptomyces lavenduligriseus and isolate AC69 shares 99% similarity with Streptomyces sp.

Keywords

• antibacterial
• actinomycetes
• amylase
• polygalacturonase
• lipase