ISSN: 0973-7510
E-ISSN: 2581-690X
The discovery of novel chemical classes has been in decline for the past two decades, the need to exploit new resources in search for effective chemicals with novel mechanism of actions is imperative. Marine bacteria are such a resource yet to be tapped, and the potential it offers is vast. The antitumour assay (artemia toxicity bioassay) developed by McLaughlin et al. is being used as a “bench top bioassay” by many researchers for the preliminary screening of bioactive compounds. In this study 94 Streptomyces strains isolated from different types of corals were screened for artemia and insecticidal activity. The lowest ED50 values were exhibited by 4 strains out of the 94 strains screened. Bacterial extracts exhibiting artemia toxicity were further screened for their insecticidal activity using two storage pests, Tribolium castaneum and Sitophilus oryzae. 59 strains exhibited activity either against Tribolium castaneum or Sitophilus oryzae or both.
Soft Corals, Antitumor Activity, Insecticidal Activity, Epibiotic Bacteria
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