Abstract

Identification and action of several antibacterial metabolites produced by a fish pathogen Vibrio parahaemolyticus strain An3 from marine ecosystem of Goa has been demonstrated. Antibacterial activity of the crude cell extract of the test bacterium has been evaluated against indicator pathogenic bacterial strains such as Acinetobacter sp. An2, Aeromonas hydrophila strain An4, Staphylococcus arlettae strain An1 and Alteromonas aurentia strain SE3 by agar well diffusion method which clearly demonstrated comparatively more significant inhibitory effect on indicator bacteria as compared to several commonly used antibiotics. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of crude cell extract of the test organism interestingly revealed presence of indole, phenyl acetic acid, n-(3-methyl-1, 2, 4-oxadiazol-5-yl) - 1- pyrrolidine carboximidamide, pyrrolopyrazines,tetramethyl pyrazine and other important phenolic compounds which may be responsible for antibacterial activity against indicator microorganisms tested. It has been clearly demonstrated that V. parahaemolyticus strain An3 produced several medically important organic metabolites during cultivation suggesting it as a potential candidate for production of several antibacterial metabolites to control pathogenic bacterial strains causing serious fish and human diseases.

Key words: Antibacterial, gas chromatography mass spectrometry, metabolites, pathogenic bacteria, well diffusion.

Abbreviation

GC-MS, Gas chromatography mass spectrometry; PCR ,polymerase chain reaction; SYEP, sea water based yeast extract peptone agar;TCBS, thiosulfate citrate bile salts sucrose; TSI, triple sugar iron; ONPG, o-nitrophenyl-β-d-galactopyranoside; VP, Voges-Proskauer; BLAST, basic local alignment search tool.