Event Abstract Back to Event Antimicrobial and Enzymatic activity of microorganisms isolated from the gut of sea cucumber (Holothuria forskali) Ana Catarina Duarte1, Ana Catarina Perfeito1, Joana A. Galante1, Marta G. Oliveira1, Teresa M. Baptista2, Ana Violante Pombo2, Maria Manuel S. Cristóvão2 and Clélia N. Afonso2* 1 Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, Portugal 2 MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ESTM, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, Portugal, Portugal Sea cucumbers awaken a huge curiosity because of their potential applications at food level and also for their medicinal value. Thus the investment in production of intensive aquaculture systems has been accentuated. The high density of organisms, together with the aquatic environment fosters the spread of pathogens easily which is a major drawback in this industry. Sea cucumbers lack a well-developed immune system and feed on sediments present in the bottom of the sea, where we can assume that the probiotic flora might play an important role in the defense of this organisms. Probiotics often promote a better use of the nutrients through the production of enzymes or promote a defense against pathogens through the production of antimicrobial substances. In this study, we aimed to isolate and characterize some of the microorganisms living in the gut of Holothuria forskali and evaluate their activity against the main disease in farmed sea cucumbers – vibriosis and to detect the main enzymatic activities present. H. forskali intestinal content was collected from the gut and inoculated in Marine Agar (MA) and Tryptic soy agar (TSA) plates. Isolated microorganisms were characterized morphologically and by Gram staining techniques, KOH, catalase and oxidase and isolated to pure cultures. We have selected a total of 55 colonies and proceed with the enzymatic and antimicrobial tests.Vibrio harveyi and Vibrio alginolyticus were used as indicator strains for the grown inhibition tests. The enzymatic activities, namely protease, amylase, agarase, lipase e celulase were assessed in the appropriate media. Acknowledgements The authors ACD, ACP, JAG and MGO contributed equally to this work. Our special thanks to Cristiana Gastão, Inês Franco and Adriana Januário, who assisted in field and laboratory work. This study had the support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), through the strategic project UID/MAR/04292/2013 granted to MARE. Keywords: sea cucumber, Holothuria forskali, Enzymatic activity, Antibacterial activity, Disk diffusion method Conference: IMMR | International Meeting on Marine Research 2016, Peniche, Portugal, 14 Jul - 15 Jul, 2016. Presentation Type: Poster presentation Topic: Blue Biotechnology Citation: Duarte A, Perfeito A, Galante JA, Oliveira MG, Baptista TM, Violante Pombo A, Cristóvão MS and Afonso CN (2016). Antimicrobial and Enzymatic activity of microorganisms isolated from the gut of sea cucumber (Holothuria forskali). Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: IMMR | International Meeting on Marine Research 2016. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2016.04.00054 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 29 Apr 2016; Published Online: 13 Jul 2016. * Correspondence: Prof. Clélia N Afonso, MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ESTM, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, Portugal, Peniche, 2520-641, Portugal, clelia@ipleiria.pt Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Ana Catarina Duarte Ana Catarina Perfeito Joana A Galante Marta G Oliveira Teresa M Baptista Ana Violante Pombo Maria Manuel S Cristóvão Clélia N Afonso Google Ana Catarina Duarte Ana Catarina Perfeito Joana A Galante Marta G Oliveira Teresa M Baptista Ana Violante Pombo Maria Manuel S Cristóvão Clélia N Afonso Google Scholar Ana Catarina Duarte Ana Catarina Perfeito Joana A Galante Marta G Oliveira Teresa M Baptista Ana Violante Pombo Maria Manuel S Cristóvão Clélia N Afonso PubMed Ana Catarina Duarte Ana Catarina Perfeito Joana A Galante Marta G Oliveira Teresa M Baptista Ana Violante Pombo Maria Manuel S Cristóvão Clélia N Afonso Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.