Abstract

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF BIOSURFACTANTS ISOLATED FROM PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA AND BACILLUS SUBTILIS

Malathi K. and Prabha V.*

Abstract

Aim of the study is to compare the antibacterial activity of the biosurfactants from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis of the oil contaminated soil samples which were collected from the oil spilled places of Vaniyambadi and Ambur areas of Vellore District, Tamilnadu, India. The bacterial strains were isolated from the soil through serial dilution and spread plate technique and the Biosurfactant activity of the strains were tested through Emulsification index and Drop collapsing test. After the confirmation, the biosurfactants were extracted from the strains and tested against the pathogens (Penicilliu mitalicum, Trycophyton sp., Aspergillus flavus, Trichoderma viride and Candida albicans). This study clearly demonstrates that, the biosurfactants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have shown antibacterial activity against most of the used test pathogens when compared to biosurfactants of Bacillus subtilis.

Keywords: Biosurfactants, antibacterial activity, soil pollution, emulsification index, drop collapsing test.