Antimicrobial activity of Actinobacteria isolated from dry land soil in Yazd, Iran

Historically, many important secondary metabolites including antibiotics used in clinic are purified from the cultural broths of Actinobacteria, which were inhabited in soil. Yazd is located in the center of Iran, the south of the Dasht-e Kavir and the west of the Dasht-e Lut; accordingly it has a hot, dry climate with long summers. In the present study, 18 strains of Actinobacteria isolated from 60 soil samples from Yazd-Iran. Pure isolates were screened for antibacterial activity against the ATCC strains by using two methods: single line streak method and spot inoculation method. ATCC strains include four antibiotic resistant ATCC strains (Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and, Acinetobacter baumannii) and three antibiotic sensitive strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli) and, Bacillus subtilis. Seven isolates exhibited antimicrobial activity against the ATCC strains (38.8%). Identification of type I and type II polyketide synthases (pksI, pksII) and nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) genes were done for these 7 isolates and all of 7 strains, possessed at least one of these genes. The results of this study confirm that soil Actinobacteria bear a great ability to produce antibacterial compounds against resistant and sensitive test organisms.

Automated summary

This study isolated 18 strains of Actinobacteria from soil in Yazd, Iran, with 7 strains exhibiting antimicrobial activity against ATCC strains. These isolates possess at least one type I or type II polyketide synthase or nonribosomal peptide synthetase gene. The results confirm the potential of soil Actinobacteria to produce antibacterial compounds against resistant and sensitive test organisms.