ANTIOXIDANT, ANTHELMINTIC AND ENZYME INHIBITORY POTENTIAL OF STREPTOMYCES VARIABILIS STRAIN PO-178 ISOLATED FROM WESTERN GHAT SOIL OF AGUMBE, KARNATAKA, INDIA

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Among various ecological habitats, soil is one of the richest reservoirs supporting a variety of organisms including microorganisms. Rhizosphere is the region of soil present in vicinity to plant roots and is influenced by secretions of plant roots called root exudates. This region is thought to be of great importance to plant health and soil fertility. The exudates from plant roots stimulate the growth of microbial populations in soil and thus, the microbial activity is greatest in rhizosphere region. Actinomycetes forms a key part of soil microorganisms. The species of the genus Streptomyces are saprophytic and are commonly associated with soils. It has been found that about 90 % of soil actinomycetes are reported to be Streptomyces species. In soil, Streptomyces species significantly contribute to the turnover of complex biopolymers such as cellulose, pectin, lignin etc. They are noteworthy as they are the prolific producers to a range of bioactive metabolites including antibiotics. Western Ghats of India covers an area of 1, 80, 000 km and represent just under 6 % of the land area of India. The area represents > 30 % of all plant, fish, herpeto-fauna, birds and mammal species found in India which include some of the globally threatened species. Agumbe, a region of Western Ghats of Shivamogga district, Karnataka, India is shown to be a rich reservoir for Streptomyces species having potent industrial and agricultural significance in terms of production of bioactive metabolites. Streptomyces species from Agumbe region of Western Ghats have shown to antimicrobial, antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory, insecticidal, cytotoxic, anthelmintic, analgesic, antiinflammatory, CNS depressant and antipyretic activities. Streptomyces variabilis strain PO-178 (Figure 1) of this study was isolated from a rhizosphere soil of Agumbe, Karnataka, India. The extract from this strain was shown to possess antimicrobial, insecticidal, cytotoxic, analgesic, antiinflammatory, antipyretic and CNS depressant activity. In continuation part of our previous study, the present study was conducted with an aim of determining antioxidant, anthelmintic and enzyme inhibitory activity of butanol extract of S.variabilis PO-178 isolated from rhizosphere soil of Agumbe, Karnataka, India.