Abstract

CHARACTERIZATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL COMPOUNDS FROM STREPTOMYCES SP

Renu Solanki, Aditi Kundu, Payal Das and Monisha Khanna*

Abstract

Actinomycetes are Gram positive bacteria having high GC percent in their DNA. They are important from industrial point of view as they have immense capability for production of biologically active secondary metabolites. Compounds produced by them possess a range of biological activities including antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, insecticidal, to name and a few and also belong to different chemical groups. Members of Streptomyces genus contribute maximally to the reservoir of bioactive compounds. Emergence of multidrug resistant microbes forces the discovery of new compounds with unique modes of action. Present work was undertaken as an effort to isolate and characterize compounds from actinomycetes. Antimicrobial compounds were isolated from actinomycete cultures L3.41 and B.69 using solvent extraction method and characterized on the basis of structural studies including Mass spectrometry (MS) and Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). It was found that L3.41 compound showed structural resemblance to Actinomycin D antibiotic belonging to polypeptide group of antibiotics having a molecular weight of 1255g/mol. Compound from B.69 has a molecular weight of 840g/mol and its mass fragmentation pattern showed partial resemblance to mycinamicin III, whereas there are differences in molecular weights and NMR data. On the basis of structural studies, it can be revealed that L3.41 compound is Actinomycin D and B.69 compound is a glycoside isomer of Mycinamicin III.

Keywords: Actinomycetes, Antimicrobial compounds, Bioautography, Mass Spectrometry, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.