Neha Gulwani, Harshita Shukla and Sardul Singh Sandhu
Objective: The aim of the present investigation was to test the antibacterial activity of an entomopathogenic fungus Paecilomyces fumosoroseus against pathogenic bacterial strains.
Methods: Therefore to achieve the above objective the cell free culture filtrate (CFCF) of the entomopathogenic fungus Paecilomyces fumosoroseus was obtained after 7, 14 and 21 days of incubation. The activities of these CFCF were then screened for their antibacterial potential by using agar well diffusion assay against the pathogenic bacterial strains.
Results: The CFCF obtained after 21 days of incubation exhibited highest activity against majority of pathogenic bacteria. It gave maximum activity against Escherichia coli MTCC 1679. The activity was good against Bacillus subtilis MTCC 441 and Salmonella typhi MTCC 733 whereas, it was moderate against Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 6204. The zones of inhibition obtained against these were 32mm, 18mm, 12mm and 10mm respectively. However the metabolite showed no activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae MTCC 4032.
Conclusion: Results of this research work reveal that the entomopathogenic fungal isolate Paecilomyces fumosoroseus produce some potential antibacterial compounds after 21 days of incubation which could be used for production of broad spectrum and ecofriendly antibiotics.