Antibacterial assay of cyanobacteria in invitro conditions and its valuable applications

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are aquatic and photosynthetic they survive in fresh water ponds and sewage water. Since these cyanobacteria are quite small and unicellular, they often grow in large colonies more enough to see by naked eye. Cyanobacteria they produce bluish green colour pigments as they are phycocyanin, phycobiliproteins and carotenoids. It may surprise you to know that cyanobacteria are still around they are one of the largest and most important groups of bacteria on earth. The cyanobacterial ethanolic extracts of Oscillatoria formosa, Oscillatoria subbrevis, Oscillatoria princeps, Oscillatoria sancta and Oscillatoria fischeri showed effective antibacterial activity against pathogenic microorganisms like Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Clostridium perfringes, Salmonella typhi and Vibrio cholerae. Cyanobacteria like Oscillatoria curviceps, Lyngbya majuscula and Spirulina subsalsa are rich source of bioactive compounds with antibacterial, antifungal, antialgal and antiviral properties. Some cyanobacteria like Synechococcus elongatus have ability to accumulate polyhydroxyalkanoates which may be used as bioplastics. In addition to these applications the Cyanobacteria are also useful in agricultural practices like Nostoc commune and Anabaena aequalis as biofertilizers. Some eukaryotic green algae like Chlorella vulgaris, Botryococcus braunii and Schizochytrium limacinum produce more oil content for ecofriendly production of more biodiesel.