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Antimicrobial properties of moderately halotolerant bacteria from cenotes of the Yucatan peninsula
Author(s) -
De la RosaGarcía S.C.,
MuñozGarcía A.A.,
BarahonaPérez L.F.,
GamboaAngulo M.M.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
letters in applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.698
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1472-765X
pISSN - 0266-8254
DOI - 10.1111/j.1472-765x.2007.02185.x
Subject(s) - antimicrobial , halotolerance , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , bacteria , stenotrophomonas , pseudomonas , genetics
Aims: Isolation and antimicrobial evaluation of aquatic bacterial strains from two cenotes. Methods and Results: A total of 258 bacterial strains were isolated from the water and sediment of two cenotes in the Yucatan peninsula, all of which were screened against six pathogenic micro‐organisms. Antimicrobial activity was detected in 46 of the isolated strains against at least one of the target strains tested. Antimicrobially active isolates were identified as: Aeromonas , Bacillus , Burkholderia , Photobacterium , Pseudomonas , Serratia , Shewanella , Stenotrophomonas genera, and 13 remained unidentified. All antimicrobially active strains were able to grow in salt medium at a concentration of 75 g l −1 , thus classifying as moderately halotolerant bacteria. Most of the antimicrobially active strains exhibited a broad action spectrum, where 61% was because of uncharacterized antimicrobial substances, 25% because of bacteriocins and 13% because of siderophores. Ten strains were able to biosynthesize biosurfactant metabolites. Conclusions: Native bacteria from the Yucatan peninsula showed an interesting antimicrobial activity, diverse mode of action and moderate halotolerance to salt. Significance and Impact of the Study: This is the first report on bacterial isolates from cenotes of the Yucatan peninsula and their antimicrobial characterization, with great potential for future biotechnological applications.