In the present study, an attempt was made to biochemically characterize the antimicrobial substance from the soil isolate designated as RLID 12.1 and explore its potential applications in biocontrol of drug-resistant pathogens. The antimicrobial potential of the wild-type isolate belonging to the genus Bacillus was determined by the cut-well agar assay. The production of antimicrobial compound was recorded maximum at late exponential growth phase. The ultrafiltered concentrate was insensitive to organic solvents, metal salts, surfactants, and proteolytic and nonproteolytic enzymes. The concentrate was highly heat stable and active over a wide range of pH values. Partial purification, zymogram analysis, and TLC were performed to determine the preliminary biochemical nature. The molecular weight of the antimicrobial peptide was determined to be less than 2.5 kDa in 15% SDS-PAGE and in zymogram analysis against Streptococcus pyogenes. The N-terminal amino acid sequence by Edman degradation was partially determined to be T-P-P-Q-S-X-L-X-X-G, which shows very insignificant identity to other antimicrobial peptides from bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of dialysed and partially purified ion exchange fractions were determined against some selected gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and some pathogenic yeasts. The presence of three important antimicrobial peptide biosynthesis genes ituc, fend, and bmyb was determined by PCR.

In this study, the cell free modified tryptone soya broth (pH 7.4 ± 0.2) of Bacillus subtilis URID 12.1 showed significant antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Streptococcus pyogenes and Enterococcus faecalis. The partially purified antimicrobial molecule was found to be resistant to extremes of pH and temperatures and also to higher concentrations of trypsin and proteinase K. The antimicrobial molecule was purified by a three-step method that included reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were determined for 14 species of bacteria using a microbroth dilution technique. The HPLC-purified fraction showed the MICs ranging from 0.5 to 16 μg/ml for methicillin and vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MVRSA) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) strains. The molecular mass of the antimicrobial compound was determined to be 842.37 Da. The same antimicrobial fraction showed negligible haemolytic activity against human red blood cells even at a concentration as high as 100 μg/ml. Because of its significant antimicrobial activity at low MIC values coupled with its non-haemolytic property, it may prove to be a novel antimicrobial lead molecule.

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An antimycotic activity toward seven strains of Candida albicans was demonstrated erstwhile by a wild-type Enterococcus faecium isolated from a penguin rookery of the Antarctic region. In the present study the antimicrobial principle was purified by ion exchange and gel permeation chromatography and further was analyzed by LC-ESI-MS/MS. In the purification steps, the dialyzed concentrate and ion exchange fractions inhibited C. albicans MTCC 3958, 183, and SC 5314. However, the gel filtration purified fractions inhibited MTCC 3958 and 183. The data obtained from the LC-ESI-MS/MS indicate that the antimicrobial activity of the anti-Candida protein produced by E. faecium is facilitated by Sag A/Bb for the binding of the indicator organism's cell membrane. Partial N-terminal sequence revealed 12 N-terminal amino acid residues and its analysis shown that it belongs to the LysM motif. The nucleotide sequence of PCR-amplified product could detect 574 nucleotides of the LysM gene responsible for binding to chitin of the cell wall of Candida sp.