Abstract
This study was designed to screen and characterize antibiotic producing bacteria and fungi from soil samples from a waste dump site in Enugu. The molecular characterization of the isolates was performed by using Zymo Research Quick-DNA fungi/bacteria miniprep kit. The bacteria isolates were Providencia stuartii, Providencia alcalifaciens. Bacillus sp., Streptococcus sp., Micrococcus sp., and Staphylococcus sp while Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus niger were fungal isolates. The efficacy of the Crude Extract (CE) of the antibiotics produced was tested against species of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The CE of antibiotics when compared with a conventional antibiotic (Ciprofloxacin) showed lower antimicrobial activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the crude extracts ranged between 12.5% and 25% concentrations while the minimum bactericidal concentration ranged from 25% and 50% concentrations. The findings suggest that these organisms have the potential to produce antibiotics and could be harnessed by pharmaceutical industries for the production of newer antibiotics.
Highlights
Bacillus sp., Streptococcus sp., Micrococcus sp., and Staphylococcus sp while Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus niger were fungal isolates
Identification of Bacteria and Fungi Isolates Seven bacterial and three fungal species were isolated from the soil sample using morphological, biochemical characteristics
One Gram positive rod that was suspected to be a member of Bacillus species using morphological and biochemical characteristics was not identified molecularly because of poor sensitivity
Summary
Series of natural products have been identified and developed as therapeutic agents against many infectious diseases [4] yet microbial metabolites still appear as the most promising sources of antibiotics in the future [5] [6]. Antibiotics are part of secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms though the production of antibiotics is enhanced in the presence of optimum temperature, pH, carbon source concentration, and Sodium nitrate concentration. Actinomycetes are well known sources of biologically active microbial products, and most medically and commercially important antibiotics [8] but bacteria and fungi [9] are currently gaining attention in the discovery of new antibiotics
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